The Great Disney Adventure II: The Book of Songs

A Disney story by talking2myself

DISCLAIMER: see chapter. 1

AUTHOR'S NOTE: Yes, I realize it has been an insanely long time since I last updated. Evil final exams and the busyness of the holidays has temporarily sidetracked me. I will attempt to be better!

Chapter. 56 Gargoyles and Graveyards

Kelsey's dreams were filled with ringing bells. By the time she came to her senses she had a splitting migraine. Kelsey pressed a hand to her head and muttered something negative about bells. "I imagine this is what a hangover feels like," Kelsey muttered. She groaned and clutched her head again, "GOD! How can Jack even want rum again after this feeling?!"

The events of the past couple days came flying back at her again. The thoughts only made her head hurt more. She shook her head attempting to clear it before cautiously reaching for The Book of Songs.

She was lying on a makeshift sort of bed, surrounded by candles. Kelsey anxiously got to her feet. She wobbled unsteadily for a few moments before she glanced up at the ceiling. High in the rafters, gigantic bells hung with ropes dangling towards the ground. She glared at the mighty bells accusingly before searching the room for her rescuer.

"Please don't be some sort of creepy scene where the guy swings out of the shadows and… HOLY CRAP!!" Kelsey whirled around as she heard someone running behind her, just out of the corner of her eye. Kelsey jumped, annoyed at her own skittishness. Kelsey glanced over her shoulder searching for the figure. "Calm down, One Who Walks Between Two Worlds, it's not Frollo. He's on the floor of The Palace of Justice… last I checked."

"Wow! Two girls in one day! Quasi's on some sort of roll!"

Kelsey whirled around to see a small stone gargoyle with a pig snout and horns. Kelsey screamed at the sight. The gargoyle jumped backwards and screamed as well.

"Hugo, what on earth are you yelling about?" a cranky old gargoyle ambled down the steps. Hugo had fallen backwards and was still staring at Kelsey in disbelief.

"Oh no…!" Kelsey groaned, "The gargoyles! I'm talking to the gargoyles from The Hunchback of Notre Dame! I'm talking to inanimate objects. I must have hit my head harder than I thought… or maybe I caught Disney malaria."

"Disney what?" Hugo asked.

"Malaria," another taller and more proper sounding gargoyle interjected, "An infectious disease caused by a parasite that is transmitted by the bite of infected mosquitoes." He shot Kelsey a confused look, "I didn't realize there was a Disney variety."

"Eesh!" Hugo cringed, "I hope it ain't contagious!"

"Victor! Hugo!" the eldest, and apparently the only female, gargoyle cried, "Did you numbskulls neglect to notice that someone WHO IS NOT QUASIMODO is talking to us?!"

"Trust me, I'm equally freaked out," Kelsey insisted, "This is a level of insanity that I hoped I would never reach! Way to go above and beyond the call of duty, Chosen One!" she muttered to herself.

"I think this one has a very advanced stage of Disney malaria," Victor whispered to the elder gargoyle.

"Nonsense!" the gargoyle said dismissively, "She's just a girl who's been conked on the head and the first thing she saw was Hugo. If that doesn't make a person a little loopy nothing will."

"Yeah," Hugo agreed, "If that doesn't… hey wait a second!"

"Allow me to attempt to bring some common decency back into this conversation," the gargoyle insisted, "My name is Laverne. This would be Hugo and Victor. You don't seem to mean us any harm."

"No," Kelsey said, "I don't. My name is Kelsey and I was just… seeking sanctuary."

"Sheesh, must be a new trend or something," Hugo cried, "We just got one girl OUT now we get another one back in… not that I'm complaining."

"It is a pleasant to have some guests every now and again," Victor agreed.

"Look, I'd love to stay and chat," Kelsey interrupted, "But…"

"You mean you can talk to them?"

Kelsey jumped at the voice. She pressed a hand to her heart and turned slowly. She could see the hunched outline of a figure up behind one of the bells.

"You guys gotta stop doing that," Kelsey said with a sigh, "My heart won't be able to take it."

"Oh we're terribly sorry!" Victor cried, "We didn't realize that you had a prior heart condition."

"Yeah, its called stop-freakin-the-hell-outta-me-itis," Kelsey snapped irritably. She turned back to the unseen speaker. "Yes…" she said slowly, "Yes. I can see them." She peered up at the outline, "But I can't see you." The figure shuffled a bit uncomfortably. "I think you're my rescuer… or the provider of my current migraine… or both." Kelsey said, "I think I know who you are."

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to…"

"Look, you don't know me so I'll let this slide, but I have had a lot of villains deliver longwinded monologues from the darkness of shadows," Kelsey said, "I would really feel a lot better if you stepped into the light so I can see you."

The gargoyles exchanged a few nervous glances and for a moment Kelsey thought that the figure was going to refuse. "Please," Kelsey added hesitantly.

"Please don't be frightened." the figure begged.

"Psh!" Kelsey scoffed, "I think I can handle anything you can dish out."

Kelsey heard the figure draw a deep breath and let it out slowly. "Alright," he said slowly before stepping into the light. The man's back was completely hunched over and his face looked completely strange. One eye was considerably bigger than the other and his bulbous nose took up most of his face. All in all, it was a face only a mother could love, but it was far from terrifying. Kelsey didn't even react.

"I was right," she said with a smile, "You're Quasimodo. I'm Kelsey." She offered the man her hand. Quasimodo stared at her in confusion and disbelief.

Kelsey looked at her hand in confusion, "What? I use hand sanitizer I swear! Did I violate some Parisian custom?"

"Oh no!" Quasimodo cried before hastily shaking her hand heartily, "No… it's just that. Wow. My manners are pretty rusty." Truth be told, Quasimodo was amazed. The girl didn't seem at all fazed by his face or appearances. No one had simply walked up and shook his hand before.

"I know this is rather strange," Kelsey continued, "But I really need somewhere to hide. It's a long story. The short version is I royally pissed off Frollo and this is the one place where he's not allowed to hurt me. I know you have no reason to want to help me, but…"

"No!" Quasimodo insisted, "Please. Stay here. As long as you need."

"Really?" Kelsey asked in disbelief, "Wow. That… that was easier than I thought. Thank you."

"It's okay," Quasimodo said with a small smile, "How's your head?"

Kelsey pressed a hand to her aching head, "It's fine as long as I don't try to think."

"Maybe you should lie down again," Quasimodo suggested.

"Probably not a bad idea," Kelsey agreed. Quasimodo gestured to the bed in the corner. Kelsey plopped down amongst the candles and placed The Book next to her. She needed to find her friends, but there was very little she could do as long as Frollo had Paris under a magnifying glass. She could only pray that Jack and Will had the sense to keep the little group hidden.

"Not one for light reading are ya?" Hugo asked pushing The Book of Songs with his hoofed hand.

"What is that?" Victor asked eagerly, "Is it the new book of poems by William Wordsworth?"

"It's nothing," Kelsey mumbled into her pillow as she drifted off to sleep, "Nothing but a heap of trouble."

-888-

The doors to Frollo's chambers swung open. Frollo looked up with an annoyed expression, but it quickly faded away when he realized that Aaron had arrived. Aaron stomped into the room scowling as per usual, an exhausted Jafar and Hades were trailing behind him. "Aaron!" Frollo cried, "You've arrived…"

"You like hell, Frollo!" Aaron snarled. Frollo had a large shiner over one eye and looked frazzled, angry and tired. "In fact, this whole place looks like hell! What are you trying to do? Burn Paris to the ground?!"

"More or less, sir," Frollo snapped, "It's the only way…"

"What happened to your face?!" Aaron demanded.

"Trouble with the fireplace," Frollo murmured.

"You're the first guy I know who's gotten his ass kicked by a fireplace," Aaron snapped, "What REALLY happened?"

"First of all you arrogant whelp!" Frollo snapped, "You like just about as good as I do." Aaron also looked tired. He had spent three days riding over The Ocean in Hades's flying chariot when Frollo had sent them a message via magic water urging them to come to Paris. Aaron also had a crazed, obsessive look in his eye and had no problem biting the head off any person who tried to speak to him.

"Second and more importantly," Frollo continued, "She's here! Kelsey. She gave me this!" he snapped pointing to his face, "We'll be able to find her if we keep up the search."

The anger suddenly drained away from Aaron's eyes. Aaron laughed happily, "Good! Burn the city down! Just find her!"

-888-

"Burn the city down?!" Hades muttered to Jafar, "Is he insane?! Why are we following this guy?! Ruling the world won't matter if he destroys it first!"

Jafar sighed heavily as he looked at Aaron. The boy looked like a mirror image of Frollo. Both of them looked on edge and madness lurked in their eyes. "I know you like the kid," Hades said, "But he's setting us up for failure."

"For once I agree with Candle-head over here," Iago muttered, "Why do you put up with this bozo?"

"It's disappointing," Jafar admitted, "The boy's usefulness is rapidly running out. He did us a great service by finding The Book of Songs, but ever since we found out that Kelsey was the only one who could wield it he's been unraveling."

"So do you have any bright ideas on what to do next?" Iago asked.

"You better," Hades muttered, "Otherwise we'll be going up in flames with the twerp."

"We'll allow the boy to think he's in charge for a little while longer," Jafar said, "There's still the threat of Lord Beckett to consider. Let him battle Beckett and Kelsey for a while longer. There's still much darker and eviler things in this world."

"What are you gettin' at?" Iago demanded.

"You can't mean… Chernabog?" Hades whispered in hushed excitement.

"That's exactly what I mean," Jafar insisted, "Once we summon him… the entire kingdom will be ours."

"But first we need to get rid of the twerp," Hades admitted.

"No," Jafar said, "Let us keep a close eye on Aaron. If he can redeem himself before The Night of the Summoning then he can share in our glory. Otherwise, he too will be defeated by our plan."

-888-

Elizabeth struggled not to laugh when she looked at Will's swollen face. His eye was a dark shade of purple from when Esmeralda had punched him in the face. They had spent three days wandering around Paris struggling to avoid Frollo's guards… and fire. Buildings were literally aflame wherever they went. Esmeralda was getting frustrated by their progress. Elizabeth wasn't sure if it was because every road they took was blocked by soldiers or if it was because Jack didn't seem to understand the word "no".

"He keeps it up and I won't be the only one with a black eye," Will grumbled. Elizabeth smiled at her fiancé gently. Will was in a sour mood and Elizabeth was convinced that it was concern for Kelsey.

"Esmeralda may try diplomacy before she hits him," Elizabeth pointed out.

"Why waste diplomacy on Jack and slug me?" Will grumbled.

"Calm down, Will," Elizabeth said gently, "It's been a rough couple of days, but I'm sure things will get better."

"This way!" Esmeralda called. She hurried forwards with Jack stumbling close behind her. Elizabeth saw where Esmeralda was heading and her smile fell. Esmeralda had just opened an ancient iron gate which led to a churchyard filled with tombstones. They were heading into a graveyard.

Will glared at her through his black eye, "You were saying?"