(A/N: IMPORTANT! I MADE A MISTAKE IN CHAPTER 2! I realized I wrote Twenty Years Ago in Chapter 2, that is a mistake. I meant Fifteen Years. My bad. I'm making them younger (:D) than they are in the movie. So sorry about that.
Is anyone else having issues on FanFic? With uploading, I mean? Oh well.
Enjoy!)
The Hunchback Nobody of Twilight Town
Chapter 3: One Day Out There
It was a beautiful sunny day in Twilight Town. At the top of the Clock Tower was no different. True, gargoyles were everywhere, but you got used to them after fifteen years. A specific two were on the right side of the Clock Tower this morning. On was tall and muscular, and seemed a bit of a noble. The other was the complete opposite: pig-like, fat, and with its mouth open. In its open mouth was a near-empty bird's nest. Near-empty.
A young boy around fifteen came to the balcony where the two gargoyles sat. The boy had blonde, spiky, gravity-defying hair that swept to the right of his head and sapphire blue eyes. His most notable feature, however, was the hump on his back. He was, after all, a hunchback. Deformed from birth. He wore a ragged black t-shirt, ripped up blue shorts, and black sneakers that had seen so many better days. He would have been considered handsome, had he not been a hunchback. He walked over to the pig-like gargoyle and looked at the nest as a small baby bird awoke.
"Good morning!" he said, voice soft.
The bird squeaked back.
"Will today be the day? Are you ready to fly?"
The second squeak sounded a bit discouraged and negative.
"You sure?" the hunchback asked. He picked up the bird in his hands. "Good day to try. Why, if I picked a day to fly, oh, this would be it! The Festival of Fools! It will be fun: the jugglers, and music, and dancing..."
The bird started flapping it's wings a bit, until it was partially in the air. The boy slowly removed his hands until the bird was hovering in place. He chuckled and showed his hands to the bird, who realized it was flying. It squeaked happily, then sounded puzzled as a flock of birds flew by, as if asking permission to leave.
"Go on! Nobody wants to be cooped up here forever!" he said encouragingly.
The bird flew off to join the flock. As soon as it had gone, the pig-like gargoyle came to life, soon followed by the other one.
"Oh, man! I thought he'd never leave! I'll be spittin' feathers for a week!"
"Well that's what you get for sleeping with your mouth open, Hayner."
The pig-like gargoyle chuckled sarcastically. "Heh, heh, heh … go scare a nun! Hey, Roxas! What's goin' on out there? A fight? A flogging?"
"A festival!" said the nobleish gargoyle.
"You mean the Feast of Fools!"
"Uh huh!" said Roxas excitedly.
"All right, all right! Pour the wine and cut the cheese!" he said, making farting noises in his armpit.
"It is a treat to watch the colorful pageantry of the simple peasant folk."
"Boy, nothin' like balcony seats for watching the ol' F.O.F."
"Yeah, watching," Roxas mumbled, starting to get dejected. He turned and left the two.
"Hey, look," said Hayner, looking over the balcony and obviously not noticing his friend's sadness. "A mime." He gathered some phlegm in his throat, preparing to spit, when the other gargoyle covered his mouth. Looking sad (and a bit guilty), he swallowed his prize. The two followed their human friend inside to be joined by a third gargoyle, looking much older than the first two and apparently a girl.
"Hey, hey, what gives?" asked Hayner.
"Aren't you going to watch the festival with us?" the noble one asked.
"I don't get it," muttered Hayner.
"Perhaps he's sick!" the taller one suggested.
"Impossible. If 15 years of listening to you two hasn't made him sick by now, nothing will." said the girl.
"But watching the Festival of Fools has always been the highlight of the year for Roxas," protested the tall one.
"What good is watching the party if you never get to go hear it?" Some birds started to land on the girl's back, and she shooed them away. "Get away from me, go on, you bunch of buzzards!" Turning back to the other two, she said, "He's not made of stone, like us."
She left them to join Roxas, who sat at his table with a model of the city and small toys painted like townspeople, all of which he made himself. "Roxas, what's wrong? You wanna tell ol' Olette all about it?"
"I … I just don't feel like watching the festival, that's all."
"Well, did you ever think about going there instead?"
"Sure!" agreed the tall gargoyle, who had just now joined them.
"I'd never fit in down there. I'm not … normal." He sighed.
"Oh, Roxas, Roxas, Roxas." She paused, noticing more birds landing on her. "Do you mind? I would like to have a moment with the boy, if it's all right with you!" she said to them, shooing them away again.
"Hey, quit beating around the bell tower," said Hayner. "Whadda we gotta do? Paint you a fresco?"
"As your friends and guardians, we insist you attend the festival," the tall one commanded.
"Me?" Roxas asked, shocked.
Hayner grabbed a figurine of the Pope and showed it to him. "No, the Pope. Of course, you!" he cried, tossing the 'Pope' over his shoulder.
"It would be a veritable pope-pourri of educational experience," said the tall one.
"Wine, women, and song!" said Hayner.
"You can learn to identify various regional cheeses!"
"Bobbing for snails!"
"And the indigenous folk music."
"Dunk the monk!"
"Roxas," started Olette, patting his shoulder. "Take it from an old spectator. Life's not a spectator sport. If watchin's all you're gonna do, then you're gonna watch your life go by without you."
"Yeah, you're human, with the flesh, and the hair, and the naval lint. We're just part of the architecture, right, Pence?" said Hayner.
"Yet, if you chip us, will we not flake? If you moisten us, do we not grow moist?" asked Pence, making little to no sense.
"Roxas, just grab a fresh tunic and a clean pair of pants and-" Olette started.
"Thanks for the encouragement," Roxas interrupted, "But you're all forgetting one thing."
"What?" they all asked.
"My master, Xemnas."
"Oh, yeah, right," they muttered.
"Well, when he says you're forbidden from ever leaving the Clock Tower, does he mean 'ever ever'?" asked Pence.
"Never ever! And he hates the Feast of Fools! He'd be furious if I asked to go."
"Who says you gotta ask?" hinted Hayner.
"Oh, no."
"Ya sneak out …" he started.
"It's just one afternoon …" said Olette.
"…and ya sneak back in."
"He'll never know you were gone."
"I mean, if I got caught-"
"Better to beg forgiveness than to ask permission," said Pence.
"He might see me," Roxas said, worried, but he was starting to like the idea.
"You could wear a disguise," suggested Hayner. "Just this once. What Xemnas doesn't know can't hurt you!"
"Ignorance is bliss," agreed Pence.
"Look who's talking..." muttered Hayner under his breath. Pence glared at him.
"Nobody wants to stay cooped up here forever," said Olette.
Roxas thought for a moment, and a smile crept up his face. "You're right! I'll go!" he said, standing up.
"Yes!"
"I'll get cleaned up." He started for the door.
"Yes!" The 'goyles followed him.
"I'll stroll down those stairs."
"Yes!"
"I'll march through the doors and-"
"Good morning, Roxas," said Xemnas, entering through the door Roxas was about to exit through. The 'goyles turned to stone as soon as Roxas saw him.
"Ah … um, good … morning, master," Roxas said, all previous thoughts gone.
"Dear boy, whomever are you talking to?"
"My … friends," he said, indicating to the gargoyles.
"I see." Xemnas tapped Hayner on the head, producing a hollow sound. "And what are your friends made of, Roxas?"
"...Stone..." Roxas mumbled.
"Can stone talk?"
"No, it can't," he said, sounding slightly annoyed. They had been through this before...
"That's right. You're a smart lad. Now … lunch." He sat down at the table with the model city and placed the picnic basket he had brought with him on it. Roxas immediately went off to retrieve a silver chalice and plate for Xemnas and a wooden cup and plate for himself. As they dined, Xemnas pulled out a small book from his black cloak.
"Shall we review your alphabet today?"
"Yes, master. I would like that very much."
"Very well. A?"
"Abomination."
"B?"
"Blasphemy."
"C?"
"C-c-c-contrition," he stuttered a bit.
"D?"
"Damnation."
"E?"
"Eternal damnation!" Roxas said, slightly proud of himself.
"Good. F?"
"Festival..." he muttered, sighing.
Xemnas did a spit take and looked at Roxas in disdain. "Excuse me?"
"F-F-Forgiveness!" he corrected quickly.
"You said … festival," Xemnas said, glaring as he slammed the book shut.
"No!" He groaned, doing a face palm.
"You are thinking about going to the festival."
"It's just that … you go every year..."
"I am a public official; I must go! But I don't enjoy a moment! Thieves and hustlers and the dregs of humankind, all mixed together in a shallow, drunken stupor."
"I didn't mean to upset you, master," Roxas said meekly.
"Roxas, can't you understand? When your Heartless mother abandoned you as a child, anyone else would have drowned you. And this is my thanks for taking you in and raising you as my son?"
"I'm sorry, sir."
"Oh, my dear Roxas, you don't know what it's like out there. I do... I do... The world is cruel. The world is wicked. It's I alone whom you can trust in this whole city. I am your only friend. I who keep you, teach you, feed you, dress you. I who look upon you without fear. How can I protect you, boy unless you always stay in here, away in here?" He sighed.
"You are deformed."
"I am deformed."
"And you are ugly."
"And I am ugly."
"And these are crimes for which the world shows little pity. You do not comprehend."
"You are my one defender."
"Out there, they'll revile you as a monster."
"I am a monster."
"Out there, they will hate with scorn and jeer."
"Only a monster."
"Why invite their calumny consternation? Stay in here, be faithful to me."
"I'm faithful."
"Grateful to me."
"I'm grateful."
"Do as I say. Obey, and stay in here."
"I'll stay in here."
Xemnas got up to leave. On his way out, Roxas mumbled, "You are good to me, master. I'm sorry."
"You are forgiven. But, remember, Roxas: this is your sanctuary."
"Sanctuary," Roxas muttered as Xemnas left.
"Safe behind these windows and these parapets of stone. Gazing at the people down below me. All my life I watch them as I hide up here alone. Hungry for the histories they show me. All my life I memorize their faces. Knowing them as they will never know me. All my life I wonder how it feels to pass a day, not above them... But part of them... And out there, living in the sun. Give me one day out there. All I ask is one, to hold forever. Out there, where they all live unaware. What I'd give... What I'd dare, just to live one day out there! Out there among the millers and the weavers and their wives. Through the roofs and gables I can see them. Every day they shout and scold and go about their lives. Heedless of the gift it is to be them. If I was in their skin, I'd treasure every instant. Out there, strolling by the Seine, taste a morning out there. Like ordinary men who freely walk about there. Just one day and then I swear I'll be content, with my share, won't resent, won't despair, old and bent, I won't care. I'll have spent one day out there!"
(A/N: Well? Did you like? I hopes you did. Oh yeah, the entire time I was watching the movie, I was giving the characters Kingdom Hearts parts. I kept laughing every time Hugo (the pig gargoyle) did Hayner-like things. I think they fit. ;D
Kairi: R+R!
Hayner: And cut the cheese!
Kairi: Grr...
Hayner: O.O*)