An Unlikely New Friend
Mokuba and Rebecca began taking in their surroundings. There were simple structured buildings surrounding them and the streets were paved with stones. They also noticed that their clothes had changed as well. Mokuba was wearing a purple tunic with lavender pants and black boots and his wallet turned into a sachet that was strapped to his waist. Rebecca was wearing a light blue dress with long sleeves and a white apron over it and medium blue flat shoes. Her hair was also tied to her sides with light blue ribbons tied in bows.
Mokuba admired his girlfriend's look. "Gosh, Becca, you look adorable."
Rebecca studied herself. "Do you really think so?" She returned the compliment. "You look cute too, Moki." She looked around again. "Where do you suppose we are?"
"I'm not sure," he answered. "But I think we're somewhere in France." He could hear some of the townspeople speaking with the accent and in the language itself. "This place seems a little familiar though," he muttered. He spoke up and said, "Why don't we take a look around?"
Rebecca nodded. "We'd better stick together too. We don't know what'll happen." So the young couple joined hands and began walking through the streets.
While walking, Mokuba and Rebecca saw some citizens walking through the marketplace shopping for food and goods. They saw some horse drawn carriages being pulled through town as well. They also saw a group of performers singing and dancing nearby. Based on their colorful clothing and dark complexions, the children figured they were gypsies.
When they came to the town square, Mokuba and Rebecca began to figure out where they were. Their assumptions were confirmed when they saw the magnificent cathedral up ahead and heard the toll of bells coming from it. It was none other than Notre Dame. The children were in Medieval Paris.
The two lovers faced each other. "Mokuba, are you thinking what I am?"
"About which world we're in?" he asked. "I think so." Excitement began building up inside the children as they laughed gleefully. Still laughing, they raced across the square and entered the cathedral. When they got inside, they stopped to catch their breath. They also stopped to see the wonder of the beauty inside the church. Neither Mokuba nor Rebecca had realized how beautiful the cathedral looked from the inside. They had only seen pictures from books and the internet.
Mokuba saw a stairwell and softly called for his girlfriend's attention. "Psst," he whispered. Rebecca approached him. "I think this leads to the bell tower."
Rebecca nodded. "What are we waiting for? Let's go." And they began the long trek up the stairs. When they made it to the top, they stopped once again to catch their breath after a long climb. "Whew," Rebecca sighed. "What a workout."
"Yeah," Mokuba sighed. "This place is bigger than I thought."
They were almost at the entrance to the north tower. Before going inside, Mokuba and Rebecca went to the balcony to look at the view of the city. "Wow," they both said, facing each other.
"It's so big," said Rebecca.
"Yeah," Mokuba replied. "Isn't it great?"
"You can see everything from here," she replied.
"I know." He and Rebecca turned away.
A smirk crossed the blonde's face as they headed towards the entrance. "I wonder if the hunchback still lives here."
"That's what we're here to find out," said Mokuba. He stopped himself. "Wait a minute."
"What's wrong, Moki? Aren't you excited?"
He was, but he also began thinking and got an idea. He and Rebecca would say they were new in town – which was true anyway – and they heard a rumor that a monster lived in the bell tower and they wanted to see if it was true. Rebecca gave it some thought. It sounded like a good idea. After all, it would be pretty suspicious if they came here knowing things that would be hard to explain.
Mokuba felt his adrenaline running. He was anxious, as in excited and nervous at the same time. Rebecca was the same way, but they had to be careful to show they were more nervous than excited. Mokuba opened the door and stepped inside. "Um, hello," he shyly called out.
"Kids in the tower," a voice muttered softly.
"A blonde girl and a raven-haired lad," another voice whispered.
"They're adorable," whispered a third voice.
But the children didn't hear anything. This time, Rebecca tried calling out. "Hello?" She and her boyfriend began walking further inside and walked up the steps.
"Is anyone here?" Mokuba asked, looking around. "Sorry for the intrusion. We, umm…"
"We're new here in town," Rebecca finished for him. "We heard that a monster lived in this tower and, well, we love monsters."
"That's right," Mokuba coaxed. "So if there's a monster, you don't have to be afraid of us." But the children weren't receiving a response. "I guess there's no one home," Mokuba said in dismay.
Rebecca was disappointed. "That's too bad. I was so looking forward to seeing him." Then she thought, "Maybe he's just hiding."
"Then let's look for him," Mokuba said, and they went to the upper deck. When they got there, the children were amazed with what they were seeing. Indeed, this was the home of the bell ringer. They saw shards of stained glass hanging above a table that had a model of the city of Paris and some figurines of the people.
Before going to approach the table, Mokuba took notice of a few gargoyles nearby. He smiled and said, "Hey, fellas. Say, you wouldn't happen to know if there's a monster here, would you?" But the statues remained still. Mokuba didn't care. He thought it was fun to talk to them though he knew they wouldn't respond.
"Moki, come here," Rebecca squealed. Mokuba finally approached the table. "Isn't this cute?"
He nodded and picked up two figurines. One was of the hunchback and the other was of his evil master. "And look, Becky, Quasimodo and Frollo."
Rebecca gave a small smirk. "It's as ugly as he is in person." And the two began laughing. Then they heard a thumping sound, directing their attention to the rafters. Rebecca saw a figure in the shadows and tapped Mokuba to get his attention. "Are you hiding from us?" Rebecca asked, still giggling.
"No," the figure answered. "What's so funny?"
"Nothing," Rebecca answered. It was true. She was giggling with merriment because she knew who the voice belonged to and was about to meet him.
Mokuba felt the same way. "We're sorry we barged in like this."
"That's okay," the figure responded. "You two seemed like you were having fun and I didn't want to interrupt."
"Oh, well, umm," Mokuba stammered. "Why don't you come out from the shadows so we can see you?"
"I…don't think that's a good idea," the voice answered timidly.
"Are you the monster that lives in this tower?" Rebecca asked, though she and Mokuba knew the answer. "Come on out. We want to see what you look like."
"I wouldn't want to scare you two," he warned. "I'm really terrifying."
"You won't," Mokuba assured him. "We've seen lots of different kinds of monsters. I doubt you could be worse than anything we've already seen." He held out his hand. "Come on. We'll prove it if you come out."
The figure hesitated for a while, then slowly began walking out of the shadows. He finally came into the light, fully revealed. Mokuba and Rebecca's smiles stretched widely. They were actually meeting Quasimodo in person.
Quasimodo was confused. This wasn't the reaction he was expecting from his guests. He thought they would be afraid or disgusted by his appearance, but they looked so happy and excited. "You're not afraid of me?"
The two shook their heads. "Uh-uh," Mokuba replied.
"No way," Rebecca answered. "Why would we be afraid of you?"
"Because," he was saying, "I'm a monster."
"No, you're not," Mokuba answered. "I mean, you don't look like a monster to us."
Quasimodo's feeling of confusion began to change into feelings of pleasure. He still didn't understand how these two children couldn't possibly think of him as a monster for his grotesque appearance, but at the same time, he was glad. Then he wondered, "Are you, um, well, are you disappointed?"
"About what?" Mokuba asked.
"I overheard you saying you were looking for a monster, and well, now that you've found me, well, are you disappointed that I'm not what you expected?"
"Not at all," Mokuba answered sincerely. "Seeing you is even better."
Rebecca agreed. "We may not have been here for long, but we have heard the rumors about a monster living here, and now that we've met you, we're really thrilled."
Mokuba remembered his manners. "Oh, we haven't introduced ourselves yet. My name is Mokuba, but all my friends call me Moki," he said, reaching out his hand to shake Quasimodo's.
"And my name's Rebecca," she introduced, shaking his hand as well. "But you can call me Becky."
"Mokuba and Rebecca," the hunchback said, shaking their hands. "I'm Quasimodo."
"Nice to meet you," the children said in unison.
"It's nice to meet you too," the hunchback returned. He remembered his manners as well. "Oh, since you're here, why don't I show you around?"
The children eagerly nodded and they were given a tour of the bell tower. They saw a few small bells that rang softly and they also saw the larger bells that rang as loud as the thunder. They were also led to the roof of the tower where they could see even more of the city.
"Wow," Mokuba sighed. The view he and his brother had at the company was practically nothing compared to this.
Quasimodo wanted to take this time getting to know his new acquaintances, but before he could, he heard his master calling him. "Stay here," he told the children. "Don't come down until I tell you to." And he went back down to the lower level to greet his master.
Mokuba and Rebecca nodded in understanding. They knew it would mean trouble if they were found in the bell tower. They certainly did not like the idea of having an encounter with the evil Judge Claude Frollo. Hopefully that would not happen and Quasimodo would keep his master distracted enough from finding out about the children.
Just hearing the sound of Frollo's voice gave Mokuba the chills. Even Rebecca was feeling nervous. They both felt their hearts beating fast, worried about being discovered. Stay calm, Mokuba thought to himself. It's all right, as long as he doesn't come up here.
Please go away, Rebecca pleaded in her mind. Please make him go away.
Mokuba got down on his stomach and crawled over to the edge, still carefully keeping his distance. He looked down and saw Frollo leaving the tower and heading down into the cathedral.
"Is he gone?" Rebecca asked.
He looked back and said, "Yep. The coast is clear."
The blonde sighed of relief. "Thank goodness."
Quasimodo came back to the roof. "Are you two all right?"
"That was scary," Rebecca answered. "I was afraid he was going to catch us."
"He's your master," Mokuba said, not as a question, but as an observation.
"Yes," the hunchback replied. "Do you know him?"
"Not personally," the raven-haired boy answered. "And though we've only been here for a short time, we have heard a lot about him." Rebecca nodded.
"That's right, you said you were new here in Paris," Quasimodo remembered. "Are you travelers?"
"Um, you could say that," Mokuba answered. "I mean, we do travel to different places all the time."
"Really?" Quasimodo asked, amazed. "Well, do you have a place to stay while you're here?" Mokuba and Rebecca faced each other, obviously neither of them thinking about it. Not hearing a response, Quasimodo assumed that they didn't. "If you don't have anywhere to stay, you're welcome here in the bell tower."
Rebecca was excited to hear that. "You'd really let us stay here with you?" she asked, thrilled.
"Oh, but we wouldn't want to impose," Mokuba said, though he liked the idea as much as his girlfriend did. "I mean, would you really let us?"
"Of course," the hunchback answered. "I just wouldn't want you wandering around the streets of Paris by yourselves if you don't have anywhere to stay."
"Well, we do appreciate it," Mokuba answered politely. "But we wouldn't want to get you in trouble. I mean, if Frollo found out-,"
"I know, but it wouldn't be right of me to just leave you two out there by yourselves." Although he was just as worried about that happening as much as Mokuba and Rebecca were, he had a feeling he could hide them.
So Mokuba and Rebecca agreed to spend the night here in the bell tower. The children followed him back down to the lower levels and they continued to talk.
"Sorry if I sound rude, but you two seem a little young to be traveling by yourselves," said the hunchback.
"We're not by ourselves," Rebecca told him. "We're together."
"What about your families?" Quasimodo asked.
Mokuba hesitated, then answered. "Actually, they don't exactly know we're here."
The hunchback became concerned. "Hold on, did you two run away?"
"What?" Mokuba asked. "No! No, we – well, yes, I mean, um, yes and no. I just sort of needed to get away from some stress that I was dealing with and Rebecca and I came here."
"Poor Moki had a bit of a fight with his brother the other day," Rebecca explained, and Mokuba began telling the story of their argument, how Kaiba was becoming upset with his brother for being independent and spending more time with his friends and less time at home. Mokuba didn't necessarily run away, but he did need to get away, like he established earlier.
"I know my brother means well and I know he just worries about me, but it's getting to be a little too much," said Mokuba. "I need my space once in a while."
As Quasimodo listened, it was clear to him that Mokuba certainly had a lot of trouble going on. He felt like he could relate to the boy because he had the same trouble with his master. "I know that feeling. You know someone's only looking out for you because they care about you, but it doesn't always feel like that."
Mokuba agreed. "It's like they're trying to control you; telling you where to go and who to be with. You can't be free anyway because of other things holding you back too."
"Like fear of the unknown and with you being who you are," the hunchback added. "You always just feel so…"
"You're just…" Mokuba was saying.
"Trapped," they both said in unison. Realizing what they said, Mokuba and Quasimodo faced each other, astonished with each other. The raven-haired boy smiled, thinking he really did understand.
Quasimodo smiled back, then cleared his throat and asked, "So where are you two from?"
Rebecca gave a small giggle. "You wouldn't believe us if we told you." It wasn't that she didn't trust Quasimodo, but she thought he would have a hard time understanding if she and Mokuba were from another world as well as another country.
"Why not," the hunchback asked.
"It's complicated," Rebecca replied.
Mokuba took her hand and gave her a reassuring smile. "If we tell you the truth, do you promise you'll try to understand?"
"I promise," he said.
"Okay." Mokuba took a deep breath and began the story. "Becca and I aren't just from another country. We're also from another world."
"What do you mean by another world?"
This was what Rebecca was afraid of. She knew it would be difficult for Quasimodo to take in due to his limited knowledge of the outside world and little life experience, but she had to at least try. "It's hard to explain. All we can tell you is that there are many different worlds that are separated, yet united. There's also a sacred realm that connects these worlds. It's called the Pure Valley."
"Rebecca and I are able to go to the Pure Valley by passing through any alley in our world or our friends' worlds. Yes, we have other friends who are also from different worlds." Mokuba cleared his throat. "Anyway, Pure Valley is a wonderful place. It's a paradise filled with wonder and beauty beyond anything you could ever imagine. There are meadows, ponds, lakes, waterfalls, hot springs, trees as tall as this church, and in the heart of the Pure Valley is the Secret Garden. There are flowers of all kinds, the trees and shrubs bear all known fruits and nuts and all known vegetables grow from the ground. And in the Secret Garden, there are doors to other worlds."
"That's how we came here to your world," Rebecca was concluding. "We found a door hidden behind Celestic Falls and when we passed through, we wound up here in Paris."
It was certainly a lot for Quasimodo to take in, but he had a feeling Mokuba and Rebecca were telling the truth. "That's quite a story," he finally said.
"You don't believe us?" Mokuba asked.
"No, no, I believe you," he answered honestly. "I may not fully understand such wonders in this world or any other, but I believe your story. Does this mean you can go back to this Secret Garden from here and return to your world?"
"Sure," Rebecca answered. "Moki and I can return to our world whenever we want to. All we have to do is walk down any alley, think about the Secret Garden, and we'll be back there. And we just have to take the door back to our world and we can go back to our families."
"But I think I want to stay here in Paris for a while," Mokuba said. "I'm starting to like it here and now that we've met you, I think that's all the more reason."
Rebecca agreed. "You're the first friend we've made here and -" she interrupts herself and says, "I mean, I'd like for us to be friends. If that's all right with you."
Quasimodo smiled and said, "I'd really like for us to be friends." He really did. No one had ever come into the bell tower to see him because no one ever had the curiosity or heart to. That and his master had forbidden any contact with strangers. But Quasimodo was glad that Mokuba and Rebecca came here and wanted to be friends with him. For the first time in his life, he now had real friends to talk to and spend time with.
