Chapter 14: Auradon County Fair and Kids
"Be safe while you're having fun, runt," Gabriel said as he helped Charles finish packing the latter's backpack.
"Gabe, I'm just going to a county fair," Charles said. The gray-haired boy zipped his bag shut before gently putting it on his back. Thanks to Avery's treatment, the scars on his back were beginning to heal pretty well; however, the still hurt.
"I'm just saying it for your sake, runt. After all, this is the first time you're going to an amusement recreation that isn't school-related."
Charles nodded at Gabriel. "Thanks, Gabe. I promise to be careful. And I'll bring you back a prize." This made the son of Gaston chuckle.
Gabriel gave a quick hug to Charles before the latter went to join Gitane, Avery, and a couple of other gypsies and students at the bus that would take them to the Auradon County Fair. He watched as they climbed onto the bus and the vehicle left the school campus.
"You seem to be pretty close to Charles," Ben said as he joined Gabriel's side. One would have expected Gaston's son to tell the son of Beauty and the Beast to mind his business, but he only sighed in agreement.
"I don't know if your folks told you this, but my dad always wanted six or seven boys," Gabriel told Ben.
"My mom did." Ben nodded. "Your dad mentioned it when he tried proposing to her."
"Yeah, but my mom didn't want to. Being treated as a housewife by my dad was bad enough, but bearing him boys sounded worse." Gabriel sighed as he sat on the stoned steps. "So as soon as she gave birth to me, she took a drug that made her sterile."
"Gosh, I had no idea, Gabriel." Ben said sincerely as he sat next to Gabriel. The latter shrugged.
"Personally, I don't blame her. But the problem…was that I always wanted a sibling. Heck, I wouldn't have minded if I even had a sister! So, you know…when I met Charles in kindergarten after he dealt with the other kids' bullying…we became rather attached to one another. He became like a little brother to me."
"That's very kind of you, Gabriel," Ben said genuinely. Personally, he was touched by what he was hearing. The son of the narcissistic bully his parents always talked about in disdain had a soft spot for a boy, about three years younger than him and much weaker physically, and treat him as a family member.
Yep, there's was definetly hope for villains redeeming, after all.
Auradon County Fair, sometime after noon
"Yes! Knocked oooover!" Charles chanted when the ball he threw knocked all the stacked cans down.
"Looks like we have a winner!" the guy from the stand said. He took a plush beagle from the prize shelf and handed it to Charles. "Here ya go, lad! One big plush beagle…as you deserved!"
"Thank you very much sir," Charles said as he took the toy in his hands. "Have a nice day!"
"C'mon, Charlesy! Time to take a photo!" Gitane said, pulling Charles close to her while Avery appeared next to Charles and held his phone in front of them. The trio grinned as a flash came.
"Isn't this fun?" Avery said as they walked throughout the rows of diverse stands and amusement activities.
"This isn't fun," Charles said flatly. This made Gitane and Avery stop walking. He gave them a dark glare until it turned into a jovial smile. "IT'S JOLLY!" He threw his arms in the air happily.
"Charlesy, you nearly gave me a heart-attack!" Gitane joked as she place a hand on her chest.
"Ooh, what's that?" Charles asked, pointing at a cotton candy cart, where a middle-aged woman was serving cotton candy to a little boy.
"My dear Charles, nobody in Auradon-no, in the entire world- can live another day without eating a least one stick of cotton candy!" Avery walked to the stand. "Hi, may we have three sticks of cotton candy, please? Oh, and can we make it a big one for my buddy here? It's his first time eating cotton candy."
"Sure thing, honey," the lady said. While she did that, Charles put the plush beagle in his backpack. He didn't want to dirty it, for he was planning to give it to Gabriel.
"I'm glad you decided to come with us, Charlesy," Gitane said, smiling.
"So am I!" Charles said giddily. "All those things we did; the Ferris wheel, the ghost train, the house of distorting mirrors, the pizza eating, the game stands…this is more fun than anything I've ever experienced in my life!"
Gitane smiled, happy within the heart that she managed to bring happiness to the son of the awful judge. She planted another one of her pecks on the cheek to Charles, which made the grey-haired boy's cheeks flush into a pink shade pinker than the cotton candy that the lady was placing on the sticks.
"I'm glad you're happy, Charlesy," she said.
Charles chuckled nervously as the gypsy's dazzling hazel eyes stared into his maroon-colored ones. He really couldn't help it. As much as his father told him the worst about gypsies, especially about his mother, he couldn't help increasing his admiration for Gitane's kindness. Aside from Gabriel and François Tremaine, no one had ever treated him so nicely.
"Here ya go, honey," the lady said, handing Avery the cotton candy sticks. "Three cotton candy stick for you and the siblings over there. That'll be six bucks."
"What makes you think they're related?" Avery asked as he paid her.
"Eye outline. Not too hard to miss if you look carefully."
Avery looked at the lady confusingly as he went to join Charles and Gitane. Frollo's son instantly got addicted to the sticky, puffy pink candy that he eventually began pulling big chunks with his fingers and stuffing them in his mouth. Gitane giggled when Charles was over and he still had pieces of cotton candy on his lips.
"You look like you have a beard," she said as she pulled out a handkerchief with embroidered horoscope symbols from her pocket.
"Yeah, I don't think I want to become an old man yet. I'm still fourteen." Charles stayed put when Gitane used her handkerchief to gently rub off the cotton candy from his lips.
Avery watched Frollo's son staying put as Clopin's daughter rubbed him off. Judging by how Gitane treated Charles so well since they first met and the latter was mostly responding to her kindness than to her looks, he could definetly see the attraction that was developing between the two of them. Personally, Avery thought it was rather cute. It was kind of like those stories of star-crossed lovers like Romeo & Juliet, or Kovu and Kiara. Just seeing the maroon eyes of the villainous boy and the hazel ones of the gypsy princess was adorable.
Eye outline. Not too hard to miss if you look carefully, the words of the cotton candy seller suddenly rung in Avery's head.
He stared at Charles' eyes and noticed that…yes! He did have the same eye characteristics than him, Gitane, and the other gypsy kids. He had the same thin lash lines that looked as if they had been traced with a pencil; the pearl shaped tear ducts and perfect arched creases of the Romani could be seen in his eyes. Even the maroon color of his eyes looked no different than the diverse eye color shades of all the gypsies he knew.
But something was different about the gypsy eyes that Charles Frollo had: aside from the tired, black marks under them, the sclera looked like a combination of pure white and rainy grey and the corneas looked like a solid circle of dark purple. Even the pupils were unusually pitch black. Those characteristics didn't seem normal to Avery and he recalled his father Quasimodo telling him that Claude Frollo's eyes were sharp and icy blue. But Charles' were maroon and had the look that gypsies had whenever they were up to some trick.
"Let's go to the animal section!" Gitane's voice cut him off his thoughts.
"I'm in!" Charles said.
They went to the pens where the cows and horses were kept. The petting zoo really marveled Charles the most and he petted almost every single sheep and bunny that he saw.
"Hey, Gitane. Haven't you noticed something about Charles?" Avery asked Gitane as she bought a picture frame with goat design.
"What do you mean?" the Gypsy Princess frowned.
"Well, I don't know if it's just being me," Avery scratched his hair, "but I could have sworn that Charles had gypsy eyes."
"He does." Gitane said. "His mother was a gypsy."
Avery looked surprised. "Charles Frollo? Half-gypsy? Like cousin Zephyr? But how is that possible? His father hates gypsies!"
"I know. Frollo found out about it when Charles was three and he beat her to death. Charles nearly suffered the same torture." Gitane's face saddened.
"Bummer. And to think my grandmother died of a concussion and my dad was nearly thrown in a well as a baby…by Frollo." Nostalgia filled Avery until a thought popped on his head. "Wait…how exactly did gypsies get to the Isle of the Lost? When Auradon and the U.N came up with the idea of creating the island prison, France decreed that nothing that was gypsy-related would be permitted within it. So how on earth is there a half-gypsy like Charles Frollo native from the Isle?"
Gitane gave a pondering face. "I do admit that I haven't thought about it."
"Plus, I noticed something weird about Charles' eyes. I get the part where he probably got his mother's eyes, but since when do gypsy eyes include oddly gray sclera, corneas that look like dark purple circles, and pitch black pupils?"
Gitane's face looked petrified as if she had seen a specter. "No, it couldn't be. Such features only belong to dark gypsies…"
"Dark gypsies?"
"The opposite of gypsies…like you and me, our parents, and our clan. There the only ones who prove that everything that Frollo said about gypsies are true. I've never met one face-to-face, but I know their bad news. Last time we heard about them and their leader Tradaria, it was about fifteen years ago."
"Fifteen years ago…and Charles is fourteen…"
"Hey guys!"
Charles came back, but he wasn't alone: he was carrying in his arms a chocolate-colored baby goat, a kid, with black hair above the hooves and cute little horns. A red ribbon bow was tied to the goat's neck.
"Awww," Gitane cooed as she caressed the animal. "Charles, you got yourself a kid?"
"She was in the goat pens," Charles said. "Nobody really paid attention to her because she's limping on the left hind leg. Her owner said that if she wasn't sold today, then she'd be butchered. I spent all my last cash on her. It wasn't much, but the owner was glad to dispose of her."
"Charles, that's so is so sweet of you!" Gitane said. She gave the gray-haired boy a small kiss on the cheek, which made the latter blush. He made a dazed face until his goat licked him on the cheek.
"BAH!" Charles said disturbingly. "Petite Charlotte! That's enough!"
"You called your goat 'Little Charlotte'?" Avery asked.
"Why not?"
Avery scratched his head nervously. "Uh…no particular reason."