Chapter 3: The Feast of Fools

Natalie's POV

Once he said that, the memory of him getting tortured at the festival came to me. I didn't want him to get hurt. Then it hit me, I could go along with him and make sure he doesn't get bullied. Then I said as Quasimodo got down from the railing,

"I'm coming with you."

Then he said with a smile still on his face, "Alright, but we still got 20 minutes before it starts, so we can still talk if you'd like."

I replied, "Sure, why not?"

Then he asked me as we walked back into the bell tower,

"How, did you get into the bell tower, or better yet, how did you get up in the rafters?"

I replied nervously, "Honestly, I don't even know. I mean it's like 1 minute I'm stuck in my closet, and the next minute I'm stuck in the rafters. Right now, it's just kind of hard for me to explain."

He replied, "It's alright, you probably can't remember much right now because you hit your head."

I replied, "Yeah, you're probably right."

I had other reasons, but I felt I couldn't tell him because I thought he would've been freaked out by me if I told him I was from the future.

Then he asked me, "Are you from around here?"

I answered, "No, not really, why do you ask?"

He replied, "I was wondering if you needed a place to stay, because I wouldn't want you wondering around the streets of Paris by yourself, especially with Frollo's guards out there."

I said, "Well, I would appreciate it, but I wouldn't want to cause you trouble."

He replied, "It's no trouble, I would just need to hide you whenever Frollo comes."

I smiled and said, "Thank you Quasimodo." He smiled in response.

Then he asked, "I've never been treated this kindly before, why do you treat me this way?"

I answered, "Because one, I've heard about your story and how you came here and two, I look at you and I feel like you and I have so much in common."

He asked, "What do you mean?"

I said, "Well, I've always felt so isolated from everybody, and I couldn't be myself, and I couldn't make friends, it's just really hard for me sometimes."

I turned away in sadness. Then I felt Quasi place his hand on my shoulder and he said,

"I guess we do have things in common."

Then I turned to him and he said, "You don't have to feel alone, because you already have a new friend."

I smiled in response and said, "And you have one too." He smiled in response.

Then we heard a bugle sound off. Then Quasi said as he ran to go get a cloak,

"The festival is about to start, we better get going."

Then once he put his cloak on, he took my hand and he asked, "Are you ready?"

I replied, "Yes." Then we rushed to the balcony.

Once Quasi jumped onto the railing, I asked, "Are we going to climb down?"

He asked, "Yes, you're not afraid of heights are you?"

I answered sarcastically, yet nervously, "Um no, not when I have to climb down a 100 foot tall building!"

I'm not usually afraid of heights, but after falling from the rafters, I started to feel more nervous.

Then Quasi said reassuringly, "It's alright, I won't let you fall."

I took a deep breathe and said, "Alright."

Then he scooped me up and jumped to a pillar. I held on as tight as I could as he climbed down. Then we got down and we looked down at the crowd as the festival was starting. Then he scooped me up again and he jumped to a rope. I held on tight as we slid down and Quasi grabbed onto a post. Then as we looked down at the crowd, the rope unraveled and we went swinging down into the crowd. Once we hit the ground, that's when Clopin appeared.

As Quasi tried to hide, Clopin caught him and danced with him. Then he twirled me around 3 times. I almost fell, but Quasi caught me, took my hand and ran into a tent. Then we saw we were in a kid's puppet show tent and Clopin had a Frollo puppet and he wacked Quasi with it as the children laughed. Then we ran out of the tent and we were caught in the middle of topsy turvy.

Then Quasi grabbed my hand and we ran into another tent. But all of a sudden, we were caught in the middle of a can-can. Then Quasi stumbled into another tent and he tripped over a stool, pulled me down, and fell on me as he pulled down another curtain. Then we heard someone shout,

"Hey!" And I realized it was Esmeralda!

Then she asked with concern, "Are you two alright?"

Then Quasi said, "W-we didn't mean to, w-we're sorry."

The he looked at me as I was on the ground, "Are you okay, Natalie?"

Despite him falling on me, I said, "Yeah, I'm fine."

Then Esmeralda asked, "You two aren't hurt are you? Here, let's see."

As Quasi tried to back away, she pulled down the hood of his cloak and said,

"There, see no harm done."

Quasi smiled in relief. Then Esmeralda looked at me and said,

"Hm, you seem to be alright too."

Then Quasi helped me up and Esmeralda guided us out of her tent as she said,

"Just try to be a little more careful."

Quasi replied, "We will."

Then she said to Quasi, "By the way, great mask."

Quasi smiled in relief and I smiled even though I felt a little weird at what she said.

Then We were pulled apart by two strangers and they danced with us. The man that danced with me twirled me around so much that I began to stumble backwards. But as I began to fall, Someone caught me. I looked up and I saw it was Quasimodo. We both smiled as we saw each other, then we ran somewhere close the stage as Clopin sang and Frollo rolled his eyes in disgust.

Come one, come all
Hurry, hurry; here's your chance
See the mystery and romance

Then Clopin sang as he pushed me and Quasi towards the stage.

Come one, come all
See the finest girl in France
Make an entrance to entrance
Dance la Esmeralda...
Dance!

Then Clopin disappears in a puff of smoke and Esmeralda appears in his place. Quasi looked at her stunned as she began to dance. Then she ran to Frollo. She jumped onto his table an pulled him closer with her scarf and she gave a small peck on his nose. Then she pushed his hat over his face and he fumed. Everyone laughed in response. Then she followed up with twirl, some cartwheels and a splits. She winked at Quasi and all he did was turn away shyly.

Then she grabbed a soldier's staff and she used it as a pole and she swung from it, making most of the men go nuts. Once she finished, everyone applauded her. Phoebus tossed a coin to her while me and Quasi clapped and cheered for her. Then Clopin said,

"And now ladies and gentlemen, the piece to resistance." Then he went on to sing as everybody watched;

Here it is, the moment you've been waiting for
Here it is, you know exactly what's in store
Now's the time we laugh until our sides get sore
Now's the time we crown the King of Fools!

Once he said that, I thought to myself,

Ah no, what am I going to do, I can't let him go up there.

As I was lost in thought, I saw Esmeralda pull Quasi up to the stage.

I frantically said, "No, no wait!"

But they didn't hear me and Quasi was lined up with the other fools.

As Esmeralda was unmasking the fools, I was trying to wave at Quasi to get him to come back. But instead, he just smiled and waved back at me. I did a face palm in frustration. Then Esmeralda tried to 'unmask' Quasi, but then she realized his 'mask' was his face and she gasped in horror. Then everyone recognized him and started gasping in horror at Quasimodo's appearance.

As Quasi covered his face in shame, I climbed up onto the stage and said to the crowd,

"Don't judge him, please."

Then Clopin came back and said to the crowd,

"Ladies and gentlemen, don't panic. We asked for the ugliest face in Paris, and here it is, Quasimodo, the hunchback of Notre Dame and standing by his side, will be our first ever Queen of fools! Uh, what's your name?"

I answered, "Natalie."

Then Clopin said, "La Natalia!"

I thought to myself, La Natalia?

Then Quasi smiled at me and I smiled back as Clopin put jester hats on us. Then everyone ran to us and cheered and lifted us up as Clopin sang;

Everybody!

They carried us to a chair, plopped us on it and carried us off. As we walked by two girls kissed Quasi on the cheek. Then Quasi waved nervously at Frollo while I stuck my tongue out at him as he glared at us. Then we made it up the pedostile as Clopin gave Quasi a ceptor. Then Quasi happily shed a tear and I wiped it away. Then I kissed him on the cheek. He looked at me stunned as I smiled at him. Smiling back, he took my hand and raised up our arms in glee as everybody cheered.