There's a wonderful video on Youtube called "Kingdom Hearts 3DS Imagined - The Hunchback of Notre Dame: Hellfire (Boss Battle)." I highly recommend listening to it during this chapter's climax.
Chapter 44: What Makes a Man
"Fire!" Zidane managed to gasp out. "Has Frollo gone mad?!"
"Was he ever sane to begin with?" Xion questioned. "Look out!" She jumped into Zidane, knocking both of them to the side as a huge piece of flaming wood fell onto the spot they had been standing a moment before. "We need to hurry and find everyone."
"Frollo said it was in the square, come on!"
Of course, navigating a burning, collapsing city was easier said than done. Every other path they chose was blocked off by flames or debris. Zidane had suggested traveling by rooftop, but that was quickly shot down when they watched a house collapse. Zidane immediately leaped into action, charging into the flaming building and catching Xion completely off guard.
"Hey, is anybody in here?!" Zidane shouted into the burning house. He jumped out of the way of a collapsing pillar and over a hole in the floor. Although he had only been inside for a minute or so, sweat was already running down his cheeks and matting his hair to his neck as he searched for anyone who needed aid. A strong burst of wind blew past him and put out a fire that blocked entrance to the next room. Zidane grinned at Xion to his left. "Nice job! Air magic, huh?"
"Are you crazy?" Xion asked. "You could die in here, you know!"
"I have to make sure these people made it out okay!" Zidane wiped his brow; the heat was really getting to him. But there was no backing down now. He continued down into the house, with Xion close behind him. There was a banging coming from beneath him. A cellar? Zidane quickly dropped onto all fours and knocked on the floor. "Hey! Can you hear me?" He placed an ear to the ground. There was definitely muffled screaming. "Xion, do you see a way to get downstairs?"
Xion was already on the job before Zidane had even asked her, searching the room for anything that looked like a door, or a hatch, or something. "Over here!" she called out to him. Zidane was up on his feet before she could finish, running as fast as he could in this heat to a small door in the corner of the floor.
It was blocked by burning rubble.
"Can you douse the flames with more wind, Xion?"
Xion held her hand out, but only a small breeze formed and flicked around her wrists. "No…" she whispered. Had the Aeroga against Demyx pushed her too much? And she hadn't really gotten any good rest since then, either. Xion grabbed for her bag to pull out an ether, but there were none left.
"Then we do this the old fashioned way." Zidane drew his daggers and struck them into the wooden floor. With the flames weakening it the broke through, but they both knew it was more than just the floor weakening. The house creaked ominously around them. There wasn't much time. "Give me a hand."
Xion nodded and thrust her Keyblade into the floorboards. The two of them chipped away at the wood as quick as they can, but it wasn't going quick enough. Too often Xion found herself wiping away sweat or leaning against her Keyblade to catch her breath. The flames were eating away at the oxygen extremely quickly and filling the air with smoke.
Zidane reached into his pocket and pulled out a small white cloth, handing it to Xion. "Hold it over your mouth and nose. I'm sorry."
"Thanks." Xion did so, but Zidane didn't have anything to keep the smoke out for him. "What about you?"
"Don't worry about me," he said shortly, continuing to break away at the floor. Finally there was a hole big enough for someone to slip through, and so Zidane did just that. Xion followed close behind. The cellar was dark, but the fires up above kept it lit well enough. Zidane found their target – a girl with brown hair dressed in orange - in the corner, backing up in fear from the crackling up above.
"Is there anyone else here?" Xion asked as they approached.
The girl shook her head. "Just me. Everyone else was out in the city when the fires started."
Zidane helped her up and winked. "Your heroes have arrived. Come on!"
Zidane climbed out first, and then Xion lifted the girl up into his arms from below before she followed. Unfortunately, as they went back the way the came wood and stone came crashing down and covering the doorway.
"Do you see any other way out?" Xion asked.
Zidane looked around desperately before his eyes fell on the window. "Hold on tight!" He picked the girl up and held her close, then ran at full speed and broke through the window. Glass went flying and cut at his skin, but the girl was unharmed.
"You're crazy," Xion said behind him.
Zidane flashed a smile. "Crazy works for me."
The girl climbed out of Zidane's grip and dusted her clothes off before bowing. "Thank you for saving me."
"Ooh, polite and pretty! Can you find your way out of here safely?"
"Yes. I know where my guardian is... Um…" She hesitated, blushing slightly. Or maybe that was just the glow of the fire. "If I may ask, why did you risk your life to help a total stranger?"
Zidane looked surprised by the question, but then he gave a lighthearted chuckle. "You don't need a reason to help people."
"…I see. Well, thank you. I hope we meet again!" And then she ran off into the streets, toward a section of Paris where there wasn't nearly as much smoke. Hopefully she'd be safe. There was a rumbling behind them, and Xion and Zidane spun around to witness the house collapse at last.
"Any longer and we'd be dead right now," Xion realized.
"What's life without a little danger?"
Xion shook her head with some exasperation and then looked in the opposite direction the girl had run. Notre Dame's towers were just barely visible through the smoke. "Come on. We can't waste any time."
And so they continued through the maze that Paris had become, turning down road after road. There was an awful lot of backtracking, for nearly every path they tried was blocked in some way or another, whether it be rubble, flames, or otherwise. When they were about to turn a large street, Zidane looked around the corner carefully.
"Nothing in our way. Come on!" Xion grabbed his collar and tugged him back as he ran out into the road, however. "Hey-!"
"Shh!" she hissed, clamping a hand over his mouth. A patrol of armed men marched by, heading to Notre Dame. "We can't go that way, we'll be caught."
Zidane removed Xion's hand. "Then what do we do?"
Xion looked around. As they had decided earlier, traveling on the roofs of the buildings was out of the question. But they couldn't very well go on the open roads, and with all of the back streets blocked what else was there? As she searched the streets, one sight stood out to Xion.
"Over here!" She ran over to a small trapdoor in the middle of an alleyway, which opened up to reveal a ladder lowering down into the darkness. "The catacombs stretch all throughout the city, right?"
Zidane grinned. "Of course! Xion, this is perfect!"
"Do you know your way around?"
He stopped in mid-climb, one foot already down the ladder. "Not these ones, no. Only the tunnels by the Court of Miracles." Zidane climbed back out and looked toward Notre Dame. "But the cathedral isn't that far away. I'm guessing we pass maybe one or two exits before we get there."
"If you're confident, let's go. I trust you to lead the way."
"I'm not about to disappoint a lady!"
Unlike the catacombs from earlier, these tunnels weren't lined with skeletons, only stone. But they were just as dark as the ones around the Court of Miracles, only barely illuminated by the firelight filtering down through cracks in the ceiling. On more than one occasion the roof rumbled under the stomping of feet—people fleeing the fires, Xion had to assume. At each ladder they passed, Zidane climbed up and creaked the exit open ever so slightly to check where they were. On the fourth one he pushed it up all the way and motioned for Xion to follow.
They were on the side of Notre Dame, dangerously close to the guards that surrounded a prison cart. Heat assaulted Xion's face when she emerged onto the surface. The crowd of people in the square – it had to be at least half of the population – carried torches that only added to the heat of the fires. They booed and hissed at Frollo; he stood on a hastily-crafted stage in front of Esmeralda, who was tied to a wooden post. Frollo held up a torch and turned to the crowd.
"The Gypsy witch Esmeralda has refused to repent. She shall burn in God's righteous fire!"
The crowd's shouts grew louder and the guards worked to push them away. It seemed not a single person approved of Frollo any longer.
In addition to Esmeralda, Xion could see Phoebus sitting in a cage that hung near the stage. But one person was nowhere to be found. "Where's Quasimodo?"
Zidane looked around and shrugged. "I don't see him. Maybe he's up there?" He pointed to the bell towers.
Xion bit her lip. That would make sense; she remembered now that Frollo had ordered him locked up there. "We need to free him."
"Shouldn't we be saving Esmeralda?"
"Frollo is too busy preaching right now. We have at least a little while."
Moving carefully to make sure neither Frollo nor the guards noticed them, Xion and Zidane made their way over to Notre Dame's front door. But although they did get by unnoticed by them, one person saw them after all. Phoebus's eyes widened and he silently mouthed "What are you doing here?"
Xion pointed up to the bell tower in response, and Phoebus knew what she meant immediately. "Good luck," he mouthed.
The inside of the cathedral was strangely quiet and serene, even with everything going on outside. The firelight filtered through the stained glass made the artwork seem to come to life, especially the circular rose window along the front wall. Zidane didn't stop to admire it though, and the sound of him swinging the door to the stairs open snapped Xion out of her trance.
The climb up simultaneously passed by in the blink of an eye and dragged on forever. Everything around Xion was just one big blue as she marched up stairs and ladders. It wasn't until they emerged into Quasimodo's room that everything seemed to come into focus. And what greeted her when that focus arrived was a horrible sight: Quasimodo was in chains, brought to his knees with his hands outstretched. It wasn't simple handcuffs, oh no. The chains were wrapped around his body and two pillars as if they were ropes.
"This is just cruel," Zidane hissed as they ran over to him. "What are you doing just sulking here? Esmeralda is down there!"
"Come on; let's get you out of here." Xion wasn't really sure where to start though, so she ended up just tugging on the chains.
"It's no use, I've already tried," Quasimodo responded. His tone of voice matched the look on his face. He was absolutely defeated. "It's all my fault."
"You're giving up?" Zidane asked as he tugged at the chains as well. "You can't just let Frollo win!"
"He already has."
SLAP!
Quasimodo brought a hand to his throbbing red cheek, and both he and Zidane stared wide-eyed at Xion. "I can't believe you. You can't let your heart be a prison!" She huffed and leaned in close to his face. "These chains aren't what are holding you back, Quasimodo. You are."
Quasimodo sighed and turned away from her. "Leave me alone."
Zidane groaned and dropped the chain he had been holding. "Fine. Be that way. We'll save Esmeralda." Xion followed Zidane back out so they could hurry back down. Hopefully they didn't waste too much valuable time coming up here. Every second counted now.
She looked back at the brooding figure, silhouetted against the flames. "…I thought maybe you were made of something stronger than this, Quasi."
Getting down was much quicker than getting up, and Xion was at least thankful for that. She and Zidane jumped down the stairs or ran down two or three steps at a time, breaking out into the square in record time just as Frollo was finishing up his preaching.
"…for justice, for Paris, and for her own salvation! It is my sacred duty to send this unholy demon back where she belongs!" The torch in his hand lowered to the hay and wood at Esmeralda's feet, lighting them on fire. She started coughing violently in the smoke, and Xion and Zidane found themselves struggling against the swarm of guards that had taken notice of them. Why were there so many people who served Frollo?!
"Esmeralda!" Zidane shouted, reaching his hand out toward her. Another guard struck him in the head, but Xion covered him and knocked the man into two others with her Keyblade.
"Here, drink this." She may have been out of ethers, but she still had a potion at least. Zidane gulped it down thankfully. Not that it mattered anyway; the wall of armed men was too thick to break through.
Suddenly the crowd let out a collective gasp and something flew over Xion's head. At once she, Zidane, and the guards looked up toward Notre Dame just in time to see a figure hanging from a rope swing over to the side of the cathedral. No way, it couldn't be. The figure came by again, running along the cathedral's walls and then swinging out over the square towards the houses on the far end. The crowd gasped once again.
"Quasimodo!" Two voices cried out in surprise—Xion with happiness, Frollo with anger.
Quasi swung onto the stage and kicked away some of the guards that had approached him. He untied Esmeralda – who was now unconscious – and swung back toward the cathedral walls. With the rope in one hand and Esmeralda in the other, he scaled Notre Dame until he reached the rose window and held Esmeralda up above him.
"SANCTUARY!" Quasimodo shouted loudly, his voice echoing throughout the square—and, Xion wondered, perhaps throughout all of Paris. The crowd cheered with him.
Frollo, however, was not having any of that. He shoved away everyone in his way, civilian and guard alike, as he marched toward the door with a sword in his hand and a look of pure hatred on his face. Xion and Zidane followed immediately, though not before Xion used the Keyblade to release Phoebus and the Gypsy prisoners. As the cathedral's doors slammed shut behind them, she could hear Phoebus rallying Paris's people against Frollo.
Frollo had stormed up the stairs like a man possessed and Xion was right on his tail, but a shadow lurking in the corner of the room caught her attention first. A figure all dressed in black, hood obscuring his face, was muttering to himself in the shadows.
"Oh man, I spent all that time partying and never turned Frollo into a Heartless… I'm gonna be in so much trouble!"
Zidane raised an eyebrow. "That's the guy who's been hanging around Clopin lately. Xion, where are you going?"
Xion knew that Quasi could handle Frollo. She gripped her Keyblade tightly and marched forward. "Demyx!"
Demyx flinched and turned around slowly, then stumbled backwards and knocked over a few benches. "X-Xion! Look, I'm sorry about the 'trying to kill you' thing. What do you say we make it, uh, water under the bridge?"
Xion crouched down into a battle position. "Stop with the act, Demyx! You're not sorry; you don't have a heart to be sorry with!"
Demyx sighed and stood up straight, removing his hood. His normal playful attitude was gone as he looked at her with a cold glare and summoned his sitar. Water began to rise up from the tile floor. "Silence, traitor."
Zidane was next to Xion with his two daggers out. "We about to have some fun?" he asked.
"Zidane…"
Demyx started strumming his sitar, playing the familiar music that Xion had learned to dread. "Dance, water, dance!"
"Hey, nice music!" Zidane laughed as the water clones raised up around them. "What's the name of the song?"
Xion struck at two water clones and watched them collapse into puddles. "Take them out before they overwhelm us, Zidane!"
"Already on it!" He swung his daggers at a trio of water clones that approached him, slicing cleanly through their liquid bodies. He backflipped over one that tried to reach him from behind and combined his daggers together into a dual-ended sword in midair. When he landed he spun it over his head, hitting at any clones that came near.
Xion forced her hand forward to cast Pearl, but all she got was a soft glow around her open palm. Oh, right—out of magic power. Gritting her teeth, Xion instead spun on her heel and hit two more clones. The last one fell to Zidane, who swung it above his head and slammed it into the floor.
But the real fight had only just begun. Demyx moved forward, still playing his song, and then suddenly jumped clear across the room from one end to the other. "Like it?" he called out. Pillars of water erupted from the floor after him, sending Xion and Zidane flying. "Come on, keep to the beat!" More water pillars rose up around them, trying desperately to hit the two of them once again.
Xion narrowly avoided the attack and was now close enough to strike at Demyx. She hit him four times before he regained his balance and slammed the sitar into Xion, sending her flying into a wall. Xion struggled to her feet but slipped in one of the puddles left behind by Demyx's attacks and fell back onto the floor.
Coming here without Sora was a really bad idea…
"Xion!" Zidane charged at Demyx, breaking his weapon apart once again into the twin daggers. He knocked Demyx over and then kicked him into the air, striking again and again with his blades before slamming him down into the ground. With the brief respite he ran over to Xion and helped her up. "Here, drink this." In his hand was a half full bottle of potion.
"You didn't drink all of it?" Xion asked, but she took it with thanks regardless.
"I didn't need all of it."
Xion thanked him and finished the potion off. Zidane smiled… and then was flung into a pillar by a sudden wave. Demyx was back.
"Water!" Demyx sent another wave toward Xion. She avoided this one, but now it was getting harder to run on the floor with the water making it slippery. She kept sliding all over.
Sliding…? That would work!
Xion dropped to the ground in mid-run and slid the rest of the way to Demyx, right under a blast of water he had sent flying her way. Demyx growled and called a pillar up to send Xion flying into the ceiling.
Luckily, Zidane had found his way up onto the second floor balcony and grabbed Xion before she could crash back into the hard floor. It was significantly less wet up here, allowing the two of them to maneuver more easily. But they were still both melee fighters, which meant they'd have to get close sooner or later.
"Dance, water, dance!" At Demyx's singing, pillars of water rose out of the ground with enough force to break away at the stone they hit. Xion and Zidane ran away from the oncoming torrent and back towards the front door.
"You call that music?" Zidane taunted.
"Just playing the overture!" Demyx shot back. A blast of water broke through beneath them and sent the two back onto the first floor. Xion drew her Keyblade and slid toward Demyx again as Zidane began running along the walls.
"Of course you are. Now I'm playing…" He leaped off the wall and connected his daggers together, spinning the sword in his hand. "…the finale!" Zidane crashed into Demyx at the exact moment Xion reached him. He knocked the sitar out of Demyx's hands, while she kicked Demyx's feet out from under him and brought him to his knees.
Zidane pressed one dagger against Demyx's throat and the other against the back of his neck. "N-No, please…!" Demyx begged. Zidane hesitated, and that was just what the musician needed. One last burst of water shot out of the floor, sending Zidane crashing into the statue that Esmeralda had prayed at the day before. Demyx once again charged forward with pillars of water behind him, this time swinging his sitar - which he had called back into his grip - around wildly.
"Zidane!" Xion shouted. She jumped in the way of the attack and Demyx came to a halt mere inches from her face. Not because of any compassion or fear, but because of the black and white Keyblade that was now sticking through his body. Xion, eyes wide, panted heavily and pulled her weapon out of him.
Demyx stumbled backwards, his own expression matching Xion's. "I can't… believe…" he gasped out, holding the wound in his chest where the wisps that signified a Nobody's death were beginning to leak out. "I blew it…"
There was a stunned silence in the cathedral now between Zidane and Xion. As Zidane got back up to his feet, the Keyblade vanished from Xion's hand and she fell onto her back, lying in silence in the water that Demyx's attacks had left behind. She had killed Luxord before, but she hadn't remembered him at the time. She did remember Demyx now though, and she had driven the Keyblade right through him.
It hurt.
x-x-x
Xion didn't know how long she and Zidane had been there before Quasimodo, Esmeralda, and Phoebus (she hadn't even noticed him enter and go upstairs in the first place) came down to tell them that Frollo was dead. They eyed the ruined, slightly flooded church with curiosity, but she had said nothing and Zidane brushed it off with a few short comments about trying to put out the fires.
Even he didn't know who Demyx was or what the fight was about. Xion hoped to keep it that way.
Now they stood near the front doors, Xion and Zidane wrapped in blankets to keep from freezing to death in their soaking wet clothes. "Quasimodo," Xion said, "you can't let your heart be a-"
"I know." Quasimodo smiled. "Frollo made me live inside the bell tower, but the real walls were the ones I built around my heart. You helped me see that, Xion."
"I was speaking from personal experience," she admitted softly.
"But the walls are gone now. I'm ready to really see what's out there." With a wave goodbye, he, Phoebus and Esmeralda walked out into the sunlight. After a few moments had passed, she heard Clopin calling for the crowd to cheer before he broke into song once again.
"Clopin never changes," Zidane said with a smirk. "So, Xion. What are you going to do now?"
"I-" A blue glow interrupted Xion and she looked up, up at the rose window. The Keyhole to this world had revealed itself, and so before answering Zidane's question she pulled her Keyblade out and locked it. "…I have to go. My friends-"
Zidane grinned. "I know. There's a place you have to go back to." He held out a hand and Xion shook it with a grin on her face matching his own. "I'll see you again, alright?"
"Yeah. It's a promise."
Zidane dropped the blanket around him and shook some water out of his shoes. "Well then." He opened the doors to join in the celebration, but looked over his shoulder and winked. "Until then, I'll be seeing you in my dreams."
Xion simply laughed at his flirting and waved goodbye. When she stood alone in Notre Dame, she pulled out the Star Shard and watched as its white-blue glow began to envelop her. I have friends who believe in me. That's how I'm able to face any hardship.
I'm going back... to where I belong.
