A/N: Happy Vetrans Day to you all! How strange, one chapter per holiday! Well, I doubt I'll get another one done by Thanksgiving only because I'll be traveling. Not to mention my grades haven't been that great (which in my eyes, a C is bad only because I'm a straight A student). Hopefully I'll get on high honor roll and won't be grounded! Oh, and I've decided from now on to post HoND fanfics that I liked, and hopefully you will too. The first one is Blind Faith by Cyria Ashral and Sakura Irving, which is EXTREMELY well written. Then, we've got It's Story Time! by bubblymuggle4, which is so funny that I nearly peed my pants. Don't forget that I've also put up a new HoND fanfic called The Quarterback of Notre Dame; which is a comedic parody. Enough of my rambling though, on with the chapter!
"Well, how did it go?" Esmeralda asked as Brielle stalked into her tent.
"He didn't give me a definite answer," she stated lamely, crossing her arms.
"Don't worry, I'll think of something," Esmeralda promised. But a week passed, and still Esmeralda hadn't given her a word about how she could visit her husband. And still, Colette was allowed to go as she pleased. But more gypsies were starting to disappear and Clopin refused to lift their quarantine. Soon, the food shortages gave Clopin no choice but to let people out.
"You are to go in groups of two. Be home before dark, and don't go wandering where you shouldn't" Clopin warned to the Court. Brielle let out a cheer. She'd finally be allowed to visit her Quasimodo!
"Fabiana, do you want to come with me to see Quasi?" Brielle asked.
"Of course, my child. Whenever you're ready."
Around seven, they slipped out of the Court and into Norfolk Cemetery.
"Oh! I can't wait to see my grandson!" Fabiana gibbered. Suddenly, Brielle spotted something in the shadows.
"Get down!" she hissed, pushing her friend into the half-frozen ground.
"What is it?" Fabiana whispered as they crouched behind a grave.
Peeking tentatively over the headstone, Brielle could make out a hooded figure in the moonlight.
"Can you see his face?"
Brielle strained her vision and could make out cold blue eyes of a tall male. His brown hair came slightly past his forehead. Stifling a gasp, she ducked.
"What is it?" Fabiana asked again.
"It's the boy who attacked me and Djahli a few weeks ago!" Brielle squeaked. The crouched for what seemed like half an hour, taking hesitant peeks over the headstone.
"I'll peek now," Fabiana offered bravely. As she looked over, the cold eyes stared into her brown ones.
"Hello," he said icily.
Both of them screamed, falling backward onto the ground.
"Can't mourn for my uncle's death in peace, without gypsy vermin like you scuttling about?" asked Claude.
"Wait, this is Frollo's grave?" Brielle breathed.
"Yes, and you'd end up in one too if it weren't for your gypsy filth!"
Claude whipped out a long sword, swinging it wildly at him.
"Run, Fabiana!" Brielle commanded.
However, the obese woman could barely walk two steps without huffing and puffing.
"I'm going back to the Co-"
"ARE YOU CRAZY?! HE'LL KILL EVERYONE!!" Brielle screamed.
Praying that Claude hadn't heard, she took Fabiana's hand and practically dragged her out of the cemetery.
"Come back, you dirty swine!" Claude commanded, mounting his horse that'd been tied to the cemetery's fence.
"Brielle, I'm not going to make it!" Fabiana confessed, wheezing and nearly doubling over.
"Fabiana, try, try! We're almost there!" Brielle encouraged. She could barely walk up the steps of Notre Dame.
"FABIANA COME ON!" Brielle cried as Claude closed in on them.
With a last puff of strength, she pushed the wooden door open and helped Brielle lock it.
"C'mon, I'll help you to Quasimodo," Brielle said over Claude's swearing from the outside. But Fabiana shook her head and collapsed on the stone floor.
"Fabiana?"
Brielle looked worriedly as her friend continued to wheeze more quickly, going blue in the face.
"FABIANA! NO! QUASI!!! HELP!!!"
"Brielle?" Quasi called out in disbelief, hurrying down the stone staircase that lead to the bell tower. "Why haven't you been visiting me?"
"No time to explain, Fabiana can't breathe! And she's your grandmother" Brielle said in a rush.
"What?" Quasi asked softly.
"Remember that necklace the Archdeacon found? It belonged to your mother Topaz. And Fabiana is Topaz's mother. She's your grandmother, Quasi."
He looked down at the gasping old woman with sheer joy and sadness.
"Oh, my grandson!" Fabiana wheezed, stroking his deformed face.
"You're not afraid?"
"Why would I be? Knowing you are alive is all that matters to me! I could care less what you looked like!" She continued to cough violently, trying to suck as much air in as she could.
"That man is gone now, I can get help!" Brielle insisted, getting ready to leave.
"It's no use. My lungs aren't as strong as they used to be," Fabiana said, coughing out blood.
"Fabiana, please, don't leave us!" Brielle sobbed. She couldn't leave now. Not when Quasimodo had met the only family member he'd ever known. Fabiana's irregular, ragged breathing increased as she struggled to sit up. She grasped Quasi's pale, callused hand; which contrasted with her dark meaty one.
"Both of you listen to me. You've never made me more proud. Protect your people, no matter the cost. And if you don't defeat the foe who chased us, then all will be lost." With that said, Fabiana's eyes clouded over and her hand went limp.
"NO!" Brielle sobbed, burying her face in Fabiana's stomach.
Quasi stroked his grandmother's head and then pulled Brielle close to him.
"It's all my fault! If I had listened to Clopin and stayed in the Court, none of this would've happened!"
"Why were you running, though?" Quasi asked, breaking his hug from Brielle and placing his hands on her shoulders.
"The man who chased Djahli and me last time? Well, Fabiana and I ran into him in the cemetery. It was too dangerous to go back in the Court!"
"It was no one's fault, Brielle."
"Yes, that man was! He nearly killed me and now he's killed Fabiana!"
Brielle continued to cry noisily, while Quasi stared in horror at the scene. He had met Fabiana several times: after Frollo had been killed and the day of the wedding. Now she'd been taken away from him in a strange twist of fate.
"You need some fresh air," Quasi insisted, leading Brielle away from the body.
"Won't the Archdeacon be suspicious about this?" Brielle asked.
"Don't worry, I'll explain it to him," said Quasi. He led her up to the highest part of the belfry. They looked up at the night sky, reflecting into the Seine that appeared black by night.
"It's so beautiful," Brielle breathed.
"I hate to ruin the moment, but have you, um, found out anything? About your condition?" Quasi asked, placing his hand gently on Brielle's stomach.
"I think there's been enough sad news for one night," Brielle said simply, trying to fight the tears that were threatening to spill. She ran away from Quasimodo and down the stone steps, anything to escape the awful truth.
"What do you mean by that? Brielle? Come back!" Quasi cried, chasing after her.
But Brielle was quicker, hurrying down until she was in the main entrance way of the cathedral. Suddenly, she tripped over a loose cobblestone on the floor and fell, skidding until she reached Fabiana's lifeless body.
"WHY?!" she screamed loosing all control and pounding the floor angrily. She had so many questions. WHY was that man chasing her? WHY was Colette allowed to go as she pleased? WHY were all the gypsies being persecuted? WHY wasn't she allowed to have a child like Esmeralda? And WHY did Fabiana have to die?
"Brielle?" Quasi asked tentatively. Brielle continued to sob loudly, heedless to his questioning.
"You can't go back to the Court tonight; you can stay with me tonight."
"B-but Clopin will be furious!" Brielle hiccupped pathetically.
"I'm sure he'll understand."
He gently carried her like a child and led her back to the bell tower. Laying her gently on a crude straw mattress, he settled beside her.
"Don't worry, you don't need to explain," he soothed, wrapping his arms around her. Nodding, Brielle held Quasi's hand and fell asleep.