"Chat Noir?" a voice called one morning as the boy sat before a large table filled with little figures and models of the town below.
"Duusu!" the child called from where he sat, "come look at the new figure I made!"
A stone Cherub flew from a nearby window and landed beside the table. It looked at the figure with a keen eye, "You are getting much better with your details," she cooed, "The eyes are very good."
"Do you really think so?" Chat Noir asked as he took the figure back to examine it.
"Of course I think so," Duusu smiled as she looked at the other figures before her.
"Yeah," another voice called from another window, "you have a real talent with those claws of yours!" A catlike stone statue slinked in and glanced over the table. He smiled a toothy smile at Chat Noir before standing upright, "Of course, they aren't as great as mine, but-"
"Oh you just hush up, now," a fox-like statue scolded as she walked around the group, "Chat, you have a wonderful gift of creating."
Chat smiled at his friend before looking down at his hands. He had four long claws on each hand. He had had a horrible time with them when he was young. He tore through everything he was ever given to put on his hands. All he seemed to do is create destruction with them. But recently, he had been in more control over the destruction his claws could cause, thanks to his master, so he was happy.
His thoughts were interrupted by the sound of music in the streets below.
"What's going on down there?" the cat creature asked as he glanced out over the town, "Looks like a flogging."
"No it isn't, Plagg," the fox creature scolded as she hit him over the head, "It's a festival."
"It's the Festival of Fools!" Chat cheered as he leaned out the window.
"Oh, Chat," Duusu cheered, "It's your favorite day of the whole year!"
"Trixx," Plagg called to the fox statue, "Help me find stuff to throw at the crowd!"
"That is such an immature thing to do," Trixx scolded as she rested her head on the edge of the window.
"You didn't think it was immature last year," Plagg reasoned as he pulled some bits of trash from a corner of the tower.
"Well," Trixx muttered, "last year I was still young. I'm older now… wiser."
Chat smirked at Duusu, who rolled her eyes.
"It would be really nice to be able to go down there and enjoy the festival," Chat mused as he watched a group of dancers practicing.
"You mean down," Plagg sputtered, "There?!"
Chat's face heated, thinking he said something stupid, "I-I just mean that it wouldn't be so bad seeing the festival up close."
Duusu looked at Chat and then back down at the people below.
"People might be scared of you."
"They might throw something at you."
"But if I wear a disguise?"
"What if it gets pulled off you?"
"Even I don't know about this, kid. And I'm the troublemaker."
"I think it's a great idea."
Chat, Trixx, and Plagg stared at Duusu. She looked back at them, a look of shock on her own face. But she straightened herself up and nodded, giving herself reassurance, "I think it's a great idea," she repeated. "You shouldn't have to spend your entire life locked away like this. You are twenty years old and have never talked to anyone outside this Church." She pulled a dark tapestry from a corner of the room and worked it together until she presented a long cloak. "Wear this, tie your tail around your waist, and you should be fine."
Chat's smile grew as he walked up to take the cloak. He ran his fingers over it, his eyes sparkling like grass after the rain.
But his smile disappeared in a second. He dropped the cloak on the floor and turned away.
"What's wrong, honey?" Duusu asked as she glanced from the cloak to the boy.
"Judge Papillion," he sighed as he walked over to where he kept the plates and goblets. "He would never let me go. And if he ever saw me there?" he laughed as he took the dishes to the table and sat down on his stool, "I don't even want to try to imagine the punishment I would get for such a thing."
The three statues glanced from one another as the sound of the tower door opening echoed in the stairway. Duusu sighed before leading the other two out to their perches on the side of Notre Dame.
Chat heard the door close and footsteps ascending the stairs and straightened his back. He flicked his tail as happily as he could muster as he turned to greet his Master once again.
"Good morning, Master," he smiled as he stood from his stool. He waited for the judge to seat himself.
"Good morning, boy," the judge answered. He presented a basket of food for Chat to serve from and pulled out a book. "Let us review your lessons from yesterday."
"I would like that very much, Master," Chat said happily as he waited for the judge to eat.
The judge placed the small book before Chat and pointed to a line, Chat glanced down and began to read. Duusu had taught Chat how to read years ago, but she had continually warned him not to show off all that he knew for fear of Papillion accusing him of leaving the church. Chat fumbled uselessly over the words as Judge Papillion looked on in disgust.
Finally, he closed the book and glanced around the large and drafty room, "And what are your plans for today, boy?"
"Oh," Chat laughed nervously, "Just sitting here in my sanctuary enjoying the company of the bells and statues which cannot talk. Maybe see the festival."
Papillion slammed his hand on the table, making Chat jump from fear, "You wish to go to that horrid festival?"
"N-NO Master!" Chat fumbled, "I only thought I would observe from the tower here. I thought that maybe I could go down to the square but-"
"That festival is a cesspool for the heathens of this world! All they stand for is an abomination to humanity, the Church, and God Himself!"
"No, I decided that I wouldn't-"
"You cannot DECIDE ANYTHING, BOY! You know nothing of the world out there! I only attend because I HAVE to. I know what is best for you, boy! You cannot decide what is best for you because you do not KNOW ANYTHING!" Judge Papillion swept from the room and down the stairs. The sound of the door slamming and locking behind him echoing in the bells themselves. The sound was deafening in Chat's ears. He could hear the bells echoing the words of Judge Papillion in their own sweet voices, and it made Chat sick to his stomach.
Duusu was the first to come back inside. She found Chat sulking by a large window pointed away from the town square. She sat beside him quietly. Plagg and Trixx stood a ways off, watching.
She sighed as she looked out the window with Chat, "You know," she wrapped the cloak around Chat's shoulder when he shivered from a cold breeze, "Just because someone says they know what's best for someone else does not mean they are right." She looked up at the sky above them as a flock of birds flew overhead, "Just like a human caring for a baby bird, they may think they know what the baby bird needs, but that baby bird may know that the time has come for them to test their wings and leave the nest."
"I'm allergic to feathers," Chat grumbled into his folded arms.
Duusu furrowed her eyebrows, "All I'm saying is that that judge is like a stupid person trying to care for someone they know nothing about. He might think he knows what is best, but he is not a mother bird." Duusu placed a hand on Chat's back, "What do you say, baby bird? Do you think it's time to fly?"
Chat sat up and readjusted the cloak with a small smile, "I'm still allergic to feathers," he laughed a little.
"Good thing your family is made of stone," Plagg laughed as he started making his way back across the tower, "We'd never be able to talk to you, then."
"It might have been better," Trixx whispered to Chat, "if some of us were made out of feathers."
Chat grinned as he climbed out the large window and down on the parapets below, making his way down the side of Notre Dame for the festival of fools.