The Great Disney Adventure II: The Book of Songs
A Disney story by talking2myself
DISCLAIMER: see chapter. 1
Chapter. 54 The Fourth Song
"So basically," Mim said with a cheery grin, "You have no choice. You're at my mercy. Cutler Beckett and I could destroy you at a moment's notice." Mim grinned again, "Isn't that delightful?"
Aaron was glaring at Mim, so furious that he couldn't even begin to think straight or force his angry thoughts into words. Jafar was at his side equally seething, but his glare was directed at Jones. "Your heart. A most trivial and irritating weakness. It's amazing that we accepted you as a fellow villain! You're more of a danger to The Thirteen than an asset!"
"I'll have you know…!" Jones roared.
"Whoa, whoa, time out!" Hades cried jumping in. "We have a lady present. A most lovely lady I might mention!" Hades leaned and kissed Mim's hand. "I love what you've done with those beady green eyes of yours. Quite fetching. Really, I'm not just saying that."
"Why thank you, Hades," Mim beamed, "But I won't be swayed by compliments. My loyalties lie firmly with Beckett. The one man to ever believe in me."
"WHAT?!" Hades roared, his flaming hair flared up as his whole face turned red.
"Hades!" Jafar hissed.
"I'm okay! I'm cool! I'm fine! I'm cool!" Hades said, struggling to calm down as his flames returned to blue.
"You're right, Mim," Aaron snapped coldly, "We have no choice. But you are a damn fool if you think I will ever be at your mercy. Hades!"
"What?" Hades snarled irritably. The God of the Dead was getting pretty tired of Aaron ordering him about. I'm the Lord of the Dead for crying out loud!
"Get your chariot ready," Aaron scowled, "We've wasted enough time on this stupid ship. Jafar and I will join you in a few moments. We're taking off."
Hades rolled his eyes and sighed like a disgruntled teenager, "Fine."
"But sir…" Jones stammered uncontrollably, "What about Kelsey?"
"What about her?" Aaron snarled.
"Are you just going to let her go?" Jones demanded, desperately trying to find his way out of the situation he was currently trapped in.
"We're not catching her by sailing around The Jungle," Aaron snapped, "Rest assured, Jones I will find her. Not that it will matter much to you. You'll have a new employer by that time."
"But you're just going to… leave?" Jones cried helplessly.
"I rule over a group of heartless villains," Aaron said scathingly, "You clearly still have a heart." He followed Jafar out of the cabin before slamming the door hard.
Mim smirked at Jones triumphantly, "Rejected by The Thirteen." She chuckled wickedly, "Hurts don't it?"
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Kelsey struggled to remain still as Sophia drew a hood over her blonde head. Kelsey had to admit she was mildly impressed by Sophia's sewing skills. The fairy had quickly thrown together several long cloaks using little more than sail cloth, and ingenuity.
"Is this really necessary?" Kelsey demanded, "I look like a hobbit in this thing!"
"She's almost short enough to be one," Rob whispered to Alice.
"I heard that!" Kelsey snapped, "You can pipe down you love-struck behemoth! You're only a few inches taller than me!"
"You're the one who wanted to blend in," Sophia pointed out snippily, "And you never had a fashion sense before, now is NOT the time to develop one."
"Hmmph," Kelsey grumbled, "Coming from the woman who wears a pink tutu and a tiara."
"Regulation uniform!" Sophia snarled, "Nothing I can do about it!"
"Right," Kelsey said distractedly, "Let's just head out, Rob, Alice, Jack, Sophia, Will, and Elizabeth can come with me. Jackie can stay on the boat and watch Emma."
"WHAT?!" Emma cried, "I gotta stay on the boat?! I've been on the boat for DAYS already! I wanna see Paris!"
"Emma, I'm really not in the mood to argue!" Kelsey snapped, "I've got enough idiots to babysit, I don't need to add you to the mix."
"I'm not a baby and I'm not an idiot!" Emma pouted.
"Course not," Kelsey said, "But you are staying on the ship. You can be the… the reinforcements. Make sure no one steals The Pearl."
"Who'd steal a junky boat like this anyway," Emma pouted irritably.
"Hey!" Jack snapped, "You can either ride on the ship or I can drag you behind it, missy!"
"Come on, guys," Kelsey sighed, "Stay close." The little group slowly stepped off the gangplank and into the crowds. The crowds were thick with people. Many of them appeared to be gypsies, dressed in audacious costumes and masks. Music filled the air and laughter echoed in the streets.
"Oh great!" Will groaned, "The Feast of Fools. I forgot. I hate this festival."
"Why's that?" Rob asked. Suddenly, a strange woman in a piglike mask leapt out of nowhere and let out a wild shriek.
"Ooga booga!"
Rob let out a cry of surprise before leaping backwards into Alice. Alice chuckled at his fright as Rob struggled to regain his composure. "That's why," Will said pointedly. Rob blushed bright red.
"If we want to find Frollo, he's probably already in his box at the festival," Kelsey said. As she finished talking, a lovely tan woman in a bright green dress passed by. She turned her head over her shoulder and gave Jack a broad wink. Jack grinned foolishly. Kelsey rolled her eyes. "Before we head out, one last thing…" Kelsey grabbed a tight hold of Jack's earlobe and yanked him down to her level.
"OWWW!" Jack wailed, "Love!"
"No rum! No wenches! No gambling NO TROUBLE!" Kelsey ordered emphasizing each order with a tug on his ear, "No kidding!"
"But it's a festival!" Jack piped, "Ohhh You take all the fun out of everything….gahh!" Kelsey yanked on Jack's ear a little harder. "Alright! Alright!" Jack cried, "I'll be good! I swear! On me honor!"
"You have no honor!" Kelsey snapped, "Swear on your rum cabinet!"
"What?!" Jack wailed.
"It's the only thing you have any loyalty to," Kelsey snapped, "Now do it!" "But love, that's…ARGH! Alright! Okay! On me rum cabinet!"
"Good," Kelsey said before releasing his ear. Jack rubbed it vigorously with a pained expression on his face. "Now, let's go find Frollo."
-888-
It wasn't long before Kelsey shared Will's hatred of The Feast of Fools. On the surface, and the VHS, the festival seemed fun and exciting. Kelsey could understand how the colors and sounds could have lured Quasimodo down from his bell tower, but things became more and more insane the further they walked. People in masks jumped out of nowhere in a dizzying display of shapes and colors. People were coming and going, dancing, skipping, running in every direction. Many of them half drunken or behaving in truly Un-Disneylike behavior. She was lost in a sea of masks. Happy, sad, ugly, scary, every emotion possible appeared in the sea of madness.
"This place gives me the creeps," Kelsey muttered, "Jack, do you see Frollo yet?" she patted Jack's shoulder. A man turned to face her. It was NOT Jack. A man with dreadlocks and a joker like mask whirled around and laughed maniacally in Kelsey's face.
"JESUS!" Kelsey screamed jumping backwards as the man continued down the road. "I HATE this place! There's so many wackos I can't tell which wackos are our wackos!"
"We could have brought the aliens," Rob pointed out, "They would have blended in perfectly."
"Shut up, Rob!" Kelsey scowled.
It was nearly twilight when the little group made its way into the main square. The main stage was abandoned and the crowds seemed to be dispersing. Guards were moving through the crowds searching for someone. Kelsey looked around for Frollo's elegant box. Where the box should have been was a massive pile of rubble.
"What happened here?!" Kelsey asked in disbelief. The box was toppled over. Black drapes were lying everywhere with broken planks all askew. Kelsey struggled to think back to the movie. Esmeralda. The gypsy girl that the poor hunchback bell ringer, Quasimodo, had fallen in love with. She had danced and simultaneously captured the attentions of Quasimodo, The Captain of the Guard, Phoebus, and unfortunately Judge Claude Frollo. Kelsey remembered an elaborate disappearing act and then some clever trickery on Esmeralda's behalf.
"Hey!" Jack cried running over to Kelsey's side, "I heard from someone who saw it all. Apparently, a gypsy act went a little bit barney and… well… bottom line Frollo's box was run over by his own men. He went back to his mansion in a huff."
"Great," Kelsey groaned, "Jack, where did you find all this out from?"
"That lovely gent over there in the stocks," Jack said pointing over to an old man. Sure enough, standing hunched over in the stocks was an ancient looking man with a long white beard and no hair on his head. Kelsey quickly made her way over to his side.
"Excuse me sir!" Kelsey cried, "Did you happen to see which way Frollo went?"
"Frollo?" the old man said, "The judge? Oh right! He went that way in his carriage. Headed for the Palace of Justice I'd say."
"Thank you!" Kelsey cried, "Come on guys! It's almost sunset! Frollo will be singing that song real soon!" Kelsey tore off in the other direction with the others following close behind. The old man watched them go.
"Hey wait a minute! What about me?!" None of them answered. The man scowled irritably.
"Dang it!"
-888-
Kelsey skidded to a halt and gazed up at a massive building. She stopped so suddenly Rob collided into her. He stumbled before finding his footing and gazing up at the towers of the dark and forbidding looking fortress. "Whoa!" he whispered. Dark turrets reached towards the sky and a massive wall surrounded the main building. They could see guards patrolling the parapets and circling around the grounds. The place was an impregnable fortress. The very stones of the building seem to exert darkness and shadows. "The Palace of Justice," Rob whispered, "Ominous."
"How on earth will we ever get in there?!" Alice cried.
"We won't," Kelsey snapped. She reached up to pull her hat down over brow like she usually did when she was grimly determined only to remember that it wasn't there anymore. She scowled as she lowered her hand down to her side, "I'm going in!"
"In there?!" Will cried, "You'll never make it out."
"Well, then it's one less thing for you to worry about, isn't it Will?" Kelsey snapped angrily. Will closed his mouth firmly.
"Kelsey, you can't go in there alone!" Rob insisted, "It's… crazy!"
"Mad Hatter," Kelsey pointed out, "Or at least when I still had a hat. Look, I'm the only one who can use the book. If I fly in and out quickly no one will even know I was here. Now I don't have time to waste arguing! Frollo could start singing that song any minute now!"
Jack let out a sigh, "Sound argument, love. Though I still don't like it."
Rob let out a heavy sigh, realizing that his argument was futile "Be careful."
Kelsey offered Rob a wry smile, "Of course. I'm always careful."
"That's debateable," Will muttered bitterly. Under better circumstances, Kelsey would have glared at Will and punched him playfully in the shoulder, but right now she really didn't want to deal with him.
"Wish me luck," she said softly. Then, Kelsey flew up into the air and disappeared behind one of The Palace's many turrets.
-888-
It didn't take long for Kelsey to find Frollo's room. She recognized the stain glass window from the movie. There was a thin ledge wrapped around the outside of the building. It was narrow ledge. Kelsey found a small niche barely big enough for her to sat on, but still covered by shadows. Kelsey sat outside the ledge on the wall, clutching The Book of Songs tightly. She clutched at the wall with one hand. She was afraid of what the book would do once Frollo started singing. She couldn't afford to get caught now. She couldn't sit out here forever either. She would have to go into the room in order to hear the lyrics.
Kelsey watched the sun sink down beneath the horizon. Soon. Soon now. Sure enough, seconds later, Frollo appeared at the window. He looked grimly regal and frightening as he appeared there as if he were some sort of phantom. Kelsey felt her breath catch in her throat. She pressed her back against the wall and held her breath, but Frollo didn't appear to notice her. He seemed to be peering out at the city. Then, he began to sing.
"Beata Maria, you know I am a righteous man." Kelsey had to put a hand offer mouth to muffle her scoff. "Of my virtue I am justly proud." Frollo turned to stare into the fireplace. While he was distracted, Kelsey slowly slipped off the narrow window sill and into the dark room, quickly hiding behind a large pillar in the shadows. As she did, she heard an ominous chanting in the distance.
"Et tibit Pater." Latin chanting. Kelsey was Catholic so she could translate the chanting. And to you father. Part of a confession.
"Beata Maria," Frollo continued, "You know I'm so much purer than the common, vulgar, weak, licentious crowd."
"Quiva Peccavi nimis." That I have sinned.
Kelsey tightened her grip on the book, preparing for the worst.
"Then, tell me Maria!" Frollo demanded, almost like he was talking to the fire, "Why I see her dancing there. Why her smold'ring eyes still scorch my soul."
"Cogiatione," the chanting continued. In thought.
"I fear her. I see her!" Frollo sang wildly as a dancing figure appeared in the fireplace. The lovely gypsy, Esmeralda. "The sun caught in her raven hair! Is blazing in me out of all control."
"Verbo et opere!" In words and deeds. Kelsey cringed, completely terrified by Frollo's words and the crazed look in his eyes. REALLY dark for a Disney movie!
"Like fire!" Frollo cried shrinking away from the fire, "Hellfire! This fire in my skin! This burning desire is turning me…to… SIN!"
Suddenly, the entire room was filled with demonic looking monks all robed in red. Kelsey let out a squeaking cry of fright, but managed to throw her hand across her mouth long enough to keep herself from making any more noise. Neither Frollo nor the ghostly specters seemed to notice. Kelsey was extremely grateful for that.
"It's not my fault!" Frollo cried suddenly.
"Mea culpa," the monks chanted accusingly. Through my fault.
"I'm not to blame!"
"Mea culpa!" Through my fault.
"It is the gypsy girl! The witch who set this flame!" Frollo insisted.
"Oh sure, blame the females!" Kelsey muttered.
"Mea Maxima culpa!" Through my grievous fault.
"It's not my fault!" Frollo wailed, "If in God's plan! He made the devil so much stronger than a man!"
"Mea maxima culpa!" As he sang, the demons faded combined into a large wall and burst into flames before winding around the two of them, Frollo and Kelsey, and were sucked back into the fireplace. Kelsey sprang back from the firey flow, but thankfully she did not appear to be harmed by the flames. Kelsey dropped to her knees in her hiding place. Tears of frustration and wild fear were running down her face.
"Protect me Maria!" Frollo begged, "Don't let the siren cast her spell! Don't let her fire sear my flesh and bones!" Frollo got to his feet and clenched a fist. In his hands was a silken cloth that Esmeralda had used in her dance, "Destroy Esmeralda and let her taste the fires of hell! Or else let her be mine and mine alone." Kelsey felt an icy cold feeling seize her insides at the madness in Frollo's words.
Suddenly, there was a knock at the door. Frollo jumped and turned to face the doorway. Kelsey shrank back against the wall as light from the door flooded into the room. Even though Kelsey knew the light was dangerous, she was grateful for it as it fought back the shadows that Frollo had summoned.
"Minister Frollo," a guard reported, "The gypsy has escaped."
"What?!" Frollo asked in angry disbelief. Kelsey allowed herself a small smile. At least, Esmeralda was out of harm's way for the moment.
"Nowhere in the cathedral," the guard continued, "She's gone."
"But how? I…" Frollo stopped short and glared at the guard, "Never mind! Get out of here you idiot!" The guard turned to leave and closed the door. Kelsey felt the darkness once again swarm around her. Frollo returned his attentions to the fire, "I'll find her! I'll find her if I have to burn down all of Paris! Hellfire! Dark fire! Now gypsy it's your turn! Choose me or your pyre. Be mine or you will burn!"
Kelsey watched as Frollo tossed a silk scarf into the fire. Kelsey silently prayed that Esmeralda was far, far away.
"God have mercy on her," Frollo sang.
"Kyrie eleison," the spirits echoed. Lord have mercy.
"God have mercy on me!" Frollo pleaded.
Me too, Kelsey thought anxiously.
"Kyrie eleison."
"But she will be mine!" Frollo sang furiously, "Or she… will… BURN!" The ghostly chorus swelled to a mighty crescendo as Kelsey burst into silent tears. Panic gripped her. The Book of Songs sat motionless in her arms. Kelsey desperately flipped through the pages. The fire riddle was still there, but there were no lyrics. No music. The Book had not responded to any of the notes and none of the lyrics. That could only mean one terrible thing. Hellfire was NOT the fire song.
She was wrong.
