And we're back! This one's kind of short, but I'll update in about a week to see if we can't compensate.

Esmeralda: "DarthKingdom doesn't own Kingdom Hearts, Disney, Square Enix or absolutely anything else obvious."

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Chapter 100: The Court of Miracles

It took over an hour, and the moon was high in the sky by the time the party of twelve reached their apparent destination.

And of all the places Sora had expected to find the Court of Miracles, he had definitely not expected an old, slightly unkempt cemetery. But, looking back, it would obviously have to be located somewhere that was seldom visited.

Axel and Phoebus opened the iron gates, which were illuminated by the small ball of Light Kairi held in her hand. "Are you sure this is the place, Quasi?"

"I'm positive. This is as close as we can get to the mark on the map."

"Alright." Mickey said. "Everybody fan out, and see what you can find. But stay quiet."

Staying low, the twelve of them searched the dark cemetery, but for what, they didn't know. It was another fifteen minutes before Yuffie found something noteworthy.

"Guys!" She called.

The rest of the group gathered around her discovery, which was a small crypt. Of course, this wasn't a very surprising feature in the cemetery, apart from the large engraving over it.

"Looks like the symbol on the map." Axel observed.

"I can make out an inscription," Phoebus said, leaning in closer to make the best of Kairi's soft light, "But it'll take a few minutes for me to translate."

Quasimodo shoved the cover stone for the crypt open, revealing a stone staircase leading down into the ground.

"Yes, or we could just go down those stairs." Sora said, grinning.

Sora, Kairi, Quasimodo, and Phoebus went down the steps first, and the rest followed close behind. Immediately inside, Sora noticed something glimmering on the side. Without breaking the silence, he picked it up off the ground: A Summon charm with two interwoven initials: KP.

After a few moments of walking down the stairs (it was very cold now) their path leveled out. But Sora almost wished that Kairi's Light wasn't illuminating the scene before them. They were now in a long tunnel, and had to walk through a few inches of dirty, smelly water. Hundreds of human bones lined the walls.

Somebody gagged.

"Is this the Court of Miracles?" Quasimodo asked, voicing everyone's disbelief.

"Offhand, I'd say it's the Court of Ankle-Deep Sewage." Phoebus said. "Looks like the old catacombs."

"Cheerful place, huh?" Riku commented sarcastically.

"Makes you wish you got out more often, huh Quasi?" Sora asked, patting him on the back.

"Not me." The hunchback answered, missing the joke. "I just want to warn Esmeralda, and get back to the bell tower before I get in any more trouble."

"Speaking of trouble," Bariss said, "Does it strike anyone as suspicious that we haven't run into some by now?"

"Like guards, booby traps, and an ambush?" Nehrut asked, with a groan, sensing the last of these things just a moment too late.

The nearest piles of bones burst apart, and out charged what appeared (at first sight) to be skeletons. But as they got nearer, Sora realized that they were men using skeleton costumes as camouflage among the bones.

If they expected an easy capture, they were wrong. Everyone but Quasimodo and Phoebus drew their weapons inside of a second, and fell into a fighting stance inside of two.

Several dozen 'skeletons' surrounded them, enclosing them in a circle, with spears and swords pointing inward.

Then, there was a voice Sora recognized from among the throng. "Well, well, well! What have we here?"

Clopin stepped out from among the ranks of the costumed men. His outfit was much more subdued than it had been at the festival. It was dark blue and violet, and he no longer wore a mask. He had a sheathed dagger on his belt, and he looked ready to draw it at a moment's notice.

If he recognized any of them, he gave no sign of it.

"Trespassers!" One man shouted.

"Spies!" Said another.

"We're not spies!" Sora said.

"Don't interrupt!" Clopin said, stepping forward, and placing a hand on his dagger. "You were very clever to have found our hideaway, but I'm afraid you won't live to tell the tale!"

Sora raised his blade, and slapped the sheathed dagger from Clopin's belt almost casually.

"Listen, we're friends! We don't want to hurt you." Nehrut said, blocking the skeletons' path to Sora. "Listen to what we say."

Only he knew that he was using his mental abilities to really sell his words. Through the eyeholes in the skeleton masks, Nehrut could see their sudden uncertainty.

"We're friends of Esmeralda, and we've come to warn you. Frollo and his men are coming." Sora continued.

Several of the costumed men started in surprise, and even Clopin quirked an eyebrow.

"Perhaps…" He said. "It's a nice cover story, but anyone could have said that. Especially if Frollo is looking to flush us out of our haven."

"Is Esmeralda here?" Kairi asked. "She can confirm that we know her."

Clopin pondered this for a moment, before nodding slightly. "You'll come with us. But we'll not put down our weapons."

He led them farther down the tunnel, sloshing through the sewage. The skeletons kept their spears pointed in at the group, who likewise didn't lower theirs. Soon, light began to shine from the end of the tunnel.

They stepped through a large, wide archway into a massive underground cavern. It could have been construed as a small town in its own right. The gypsies inside (at least a hundred, from what Sora could see) had set up tents, and a few small cabin-like buildings. Huge, colorful banners hung from the high ceiling, looking quite like a multicolored sunset. A set of gallows was nearby.

At the sight of the procession, many of the gypsies stopped what they were doing, and began to assemble around the gallows (which apparently doubled as a stage, for some bizarre reason).

Clopin stepped up. "Esmeralda, dear? Would you kindly step forward and identify these spies?"

There was a stirring in the crowd, and soon Esmeralda herself was standing at the front of them, and leaping onto the wooden platform. Djali was at her heels.

"These aren't spies!" She said.

"Why didn't they say so?" Clopin then asked, apparently shocked.

"We did say so!" Sora and the entire group said, sounding incredulous.

"Phoebus helped that family whose home Frollo burnt down, and Quasimodo, Sora, and the others helped me escape the cathedral!"

Phoebus ran to the front of the group. "We came to warn you! Frollo's coming! He says he knows where you are and he's attacking at dawn with a thousand men!"

"We can't waste any time." Mickey said stepping forward. "We have to evacuate immediately."

"So if everybody will calmly-" Clopin began.

Everybody panicked, and grabbed whatever they could, before they started running to the nearest exit.

"Run for your lives." Riku muttered, as the group climbed down from the gallows platforms.

"Thank you for coming here." Esmeralda said. She was looking at Phoebus. "It may not seem like it, but we're grateful."

"Actually," Phoebus interjected, "Thank Quasimodo." He grabbed the hunchback by the shoulders, and nudged him over to her. "Without him, we would never have found our way here."

Sora winked congratulatory at him. But his grin turned upside down when a voice boomed from the doorway that they had come through. "Nor would I!"

They twisted around, and saw Frollo and the Horned King standing at the entrance, arms folded before them, as Heartless and soldiers swarmed into the cavern in a huge wave.

The soldiers and Heartless shot directly toward the gypsies, not aiming to kill, but to capture. This was how Frollo would want it of course, but Sora wasn't going to let that happen.

He ran into the Heartless with Kairi and Riku on either side of him. Their Keyblades were all over, cutting Heartless to pieces, and striking down any soldier unlucky enough to get too close.

But they were soon blown off their feet by a dark blast of wind from the entryway, and into a ring of soldiers and Heartless with their other friends. Spears, swords, and various sharp Heartless appendages were pointing inward toward them. Frollo walked toward them, the Horned King following him silently.

"After twenty years of searching, the Court of Miracles is mine at last." He smiled horribly, and his eyes looked gold again. "Dear Quasimodo, I always knew you would someday be of use to me."

"What are you talking about?" Esmeralda asked.

"Why, he led me right to you, my dear."

"You're a dirty liar, Frollo." Sora shot.

"And look what else I've caught in my net!" Frollo ignored Sora. "Captain Phoebus, back from the dead. Another 'miracle' no doubt. I shall remedy that."

Now, Frollo looked at Sora. "Not to mention a defiant brat, and a few of his friends who need to be reminded of their place."

"We're warriors from other worlds who have worked very hard for over a year to free the worlds from scum like you." Sora said, with a smirk. "I think that we know our place just fine, and you can't tell us otherwise, 'Your Honor.'"

That stung. Frollo scowled, and the Horned King walked up. "But you should know your place beneath the Brotherhood of the Dark, boy."

"You're the one who gave Frollo the Heartless, huh?" Riku said.

Donald smirked. "What, afraid to get your own hands dirty this time?"

Nehrut looked at Frollo. "Has he told you what happened to the last two people who he gave special powers to? They're both dead now, by our hands."

Frollo looked at the Horned King. He tried to look only curious, but Sora saw (and Nehrut sensed) the small trace of worry that was there.

Perhaps the Horned King did, too. "You are more competent than Oogie Boogie or Xaldin, my friend. They merely seek to cloud your thoughts with doubt. Ignore them."

Looking a little reassured, Frollo turned his back on them, and walked up to the steps where everyone had entered from. He raised his voice to be heard above the panicked noise of the gypsy prisoners.

"There'll be a little 'bonfire' in the square tomorrow, and you're all invited to attend."

Sora didn't like the sound of those words. Esmeralda had been accused of witchcraft after all. He had learned a while back what the usual punishment for a witch was. And that they rarely got a fair trial.

"Lock them up." Frollo said, addressing his new captain (unbelievably, he'd lost two in one day).

"You won't be able to keep us in a cell, Frollo." Riku said, knocking away the spear of the first soldier to come near him.

"Quite right. I can't. But I understand that my friend here has a way."

Dark chains appeared around them, binding their wrists together. Immedately, the Horned King shot toward them, placing green marks first on Nehrut's forehead, and then Kairi's.

"We can't have you causing trouble now, can we?"

He placed the mark on each of them. Restrained as they were by the chains, there was nothing they could do to keep it at bay.

"You'll stay long enough to watch the fire, and then you'll be taken to Pax Pacis." The Horned King told them with a horrible smile.

"We'll see about that, won't we?" Sora said, meeting the sorcerer's gaze of wicked triumph with one of defiance.

Meanwhile, Frollo was talking to a pair of soldiers. "Take the hunchback to the bell tower. And make sure he stays there."

These soldiers took either one of Quasimodo's arms. He made no effort to stop them, and merely looked mournfully ahead.

"You may think that we're beaten Frollo." Sora called to him. He got his attention, and Frollo turned to look at him as the Horned King led them off with soldiers and Heartless. Sora noticed Phoebus, Djali, and Clopin being led in one direction, and Esmeralda being led alone in another.

"But we'll be back before you know it. And you'll regret what you've done here."

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And that's what happens next chapter!

Hope you liked it, please review!