Riku found himself roaming the streets of this new world, wondering where to go. There weren't any Dream Eaters in town, thankfully. This was likely due to the loud ringing of the afternoon bells scaring them off.
He closed his eyes, listening to them chime. They sounded sweet yet somehow somber in their ringing. There must be so many, I wonder how they ring them all?
"They're beautiful, no? So many colors of sound,
so many changing moods. Because, you know, they do not ring all by themselves."
Riku turned to see a group of children gathered around a passing puppet show performed by a man dressed in colorful clothing that wore a purple mask.
"They don't?" Asked a lookalike puppet in a high voice.
The man shook his head. "Up there, high, lives the mysterious bell ringer."
So there is someone who rings them all. Riku thought. He felt a bit silly gathering with the children to hear the story but couldn't help being curious.
And so, the man sang them the tale of a man and a monster, it was up to interpretation of the audience as to which was which.
The story started with a gypsy running from a judge. Apparently, this world treated gypsies as keyblade wielders would treat Heartless despite the fact they were just as human as the rest of the people. No one wanted to snuff them out more than Judge Claude Frollo. He chased the gypsies relentlessly, even the terrified mother who just wanted to save her child and begged for nothing but sanctuary.
Frollo killed the woman on the steps of Notre Dame, stealing her child away. The baby was physically-disabled thanks to a hunched back that caused Frollo to see him as a monster, leading the judge to nearly drowning him in the nearby well. Thankfully, he'd been stopped by a priest who reminded him of the ever-watching eyes of Notre Dame. To save himself, Frollo decided to raise the child in the mother's place but hid him away high up in the bell tower where no one could see. He was given the name Quasimodo.
By the end of the story, Riku was staring up at the bell tower, remembering how it felt being trapped and longing to see what was outside his own little world. Of course, Riku had Sora and Kairi to keep him company while Quasimodo had no one. It must've been very lonely.
And so, Riku and Kou made their way to the chapel of Notre Dame, eager to meet the mysterious bell ringer and urge him to go out, meet people and have fun. Today seemed the perfect day for it too, for a festival was in town. The people called it the Festival of Fools.
The boy pushed open the door with a loud creak, sending it echoing down the halls.
Just as he was about to ask someone how to reach the bell tower, Nightmares appeared.
People attending church fled at once, screaming about the monsters and calling them demons.
"Let's go, Kou!"
Koumori gave a energetic squeal as he barreled into a Nightmare.
Riku summoned his keyblade, now finding it much easier to take down the monsters after having some experience in Traverse Town.
Eventually, all the Nightmares were gone, leaving Riku and his Spirit alone in the church, or so they thought.
The boy heard a slight shuffling and turned, summoning his keyblade, thinking it was more monsters. "What, you want some too?"
In front of him was no monster, it was a cloaked young man now trembling in fear thanks to the weapon being pointed at him. Thankfully this wasn't an organization member.
"Sor- Hey, wait!" Riku called.
The man fled high up into a nearby tower, leading Riku to a attic full of beautiful bells of all sizes. The boy couldn't help but take a moment to gak at them all. He then realized: "You must be Quasimodo, the bell ringer."
"I-I am. I'm sorry I disturbed you taking out the monsters, I-I only wanted to see what the commotion was and-"
Riku took a step closer before offering his hand. "I'm Riku. Nice to meet you."
Quasimodo flinched away at the hand and Riku realized he thought he was going to harm him. He put his hands up. "Relax, I'm not going to hurt you…"
"But you hurt the other monsters…." Quasimodo whispered.
"You're not a monster, Quasimodo."
"Yes, I am. Just look at me."
He pushed off his hood to reveal his face. Riku didn't even flinch, he still saw the young man who'd been trapped all his life, just like he'd been.
"You know, I learned a while ago that it doesn't matter what surrounds something. If you look hard enough, you'll see the true essence it's hiding." Riku smiled warmly, remembering Kingdom Hearts' true nature. "So, I'd like to get to know the real you. Would that be alright?"
Quasimodo found himself nodding slowly. "I'd like that very much…"
"So, you ring all these bells everyday? Must be hard living up here alone." Riku mentioned as Quasimodo began to give him a tour of the bell tower.
"Oh, I don't live here alone." Quasimodo smiled sheepishly. "The gargoyles and bells are my friends, and I try to care and protect them, because they're very important to me."
Riku noticed three gargoyles statues that had seemingly followed them through the tower even if they were stone.
Riku noticed a small-scale model of the entire town complete with little figures on a nearby table. It was incredible. "Did you make that?"
"Huh? Oh, um, it's nothing, really." Quasimodo mumbled, turning to it. "Just something to pass the time. I like to watch from above, and see people live their lives, it makes me feel… connected to them. It's the only way I'll ever know them, anyway… Just by watching."
Riku frowned at that. "Well, have you ever thought of going out there?"
"He's thought of it, alright, but he never leaves the nest or sprouts his wings to fly!" A sudden voice cried.
Riku turned to see that the three gargoyles that had been following were now alive. To say he wasn't at least a little bit surprised would be lying, since all gargoyles he'd seen couldn't talk, but after all the crazy things he'd seen and his friends had told him about from their adventures, it wasn't the strangest thing for a man to be friends with some statues. "Hey there, you guys must be Quasimodo's friends?"
"Y-You can hear them too?" Quasimodo gasped.
"Quasi, 'course he can." The oldest one smiled warmly. "That old Frollo just wants you to think we don't exist because he wants you only to rely on him!"
"Indeed." A tall gargoyle agreed. "We will always be your truest companions."
Quasimodo glanced at Riku who confirmed it with a nod.
"You have lots of friends already, Quasimodo, but you can find even more if you give the outside a chance. You'll never know what you'll find if you don't go out there." He glanced down to the town, seeing everyone prepare for the festival. "And today's the perfect day for it, there's bound to be loads of interesting people."
"That's what we've been saying!" A gargoyle bounced up beside him as Quasi and the others joined him.
"I don't know, sneaking around behind my master's back, attending the festival, meeting people when I'm…" He motioned to himself.
"You're beautiful inside, that's what really matters." Riku reminded him kindly. "I'm sure others will see it too."
Quasimodo bit his lip, thinking it through again.
"No one wants to be cooped up here forever." The oldest gargoyle added on.
"You're right, I'll go." Quasimodo suddenly declared, gaining cheers from his guardians and a smile from Riku as he marched away to get ready. "I'll get cleaned up, I'll stroll down those stairs, I'll march through those doors and I'll-!"
"Good morning, Quasimodo."
Riku was pulled back just in time as a tall old man with a long face strode into the room. This must be Judge Frollo, such horrible darkness emitted from him.
But the boy barely noticed him, feeling an even dark presence that had pulled him away.
"Shh, let's let them talk, hm? We have our own matters to discuss."
Riku struggled wildly until he was thrown out of one of the many windows, landing on a rooftop. His Spirit landed beside him in a bundle of chains.
"Kou!" Riku cried as the chains disappeared. "Are you alright?"
The bat gave a weak response, leading Riku to glare at the two figures in front of them.
The young man he'd seen previously in Traverse Town was now accompanied by a woman Riku recognized at once. He narrowed his eyes. "You…!"
Auxdrgn, the second in command of Organization XIII and his main guard when he was imprisoned. She smirked at seeing his eyes widen. "Have you missed me, Riku? Because I've missed you. We didn't get much of a chance to… catch up last time we met."
Riku backed away as she attempted to caress his face in a motherly manner. She apparently knew him when he was a child in Radiant Gardens and seemed to want to exploit that connection.
"Oh, it's no wonder you're so invested in having that man escape this place, it's because you wanted to escape so badly yourself."
"You knew I wanted to leave the Islands?" Riku asked in surprise. How could she know that?
She was quiet for a moment before giving a giggle. "You wanted to leave your Islands when you had such loving friends? Oh, how terrible…"
Riku winced, realizing she hadn't known and now had new ammo against him.
"No, no, little prince. I'm talking about when you were locked away like your friend in there."
"What are you talking about?" Riku grunted. He didn't like being oblivious to his past, especially when his enemy wasn't. "Tell me!"
"And rob you of the privilege of figuring it out? I don't think so." Auxdrgn laughed. She paused then. "Oh, I'm so sorry, did that upset you?"
Riku gritted his teeth in anger.
"Of course it did." She continued on with a knowing smile. "And why wouldn't it? Not knowing your past, not even being strong enough to handle knowing it, it must weigh so heavy on your weak little heart~"
"You don't know anything about m-!"
"-We know you more than you know yourself." The young man reminded him sharply. "…Such is the duality of pillars of darkness and beacons of light."
Riku remembered Yen Sid warning them about Xehanort and his likely plan to forge the X-Blade. The Organization must be in on it too. He narrowed his eyes, glaring between the two. "What are you planning?"
"So you don't know yet?" The man smirked. "You ought to be paying better attention, Riku. You never know which dreams are real and which are fake… Listen to them all. If you don't get lost in them, perhaps you'll find out."
"Out with it already!" Riku yelled, summoning his keyblade.
The two vanished and as the boy stumbled to where they were, a sleepiness overtook him.
"With your guidance, it's almost too easy." He heard the young man's voice laugh as he floated in darkness. "How do you know how to get to Riku so well?"
"It was so painful as a boy, not knowing my past, trying to live up to a great destiny only to fall short, being trapped whether by stone or water… But then again, you'd know all about that, wouldn't you, boy?"
Riku awoke, still not knowing who the elderly man was. He couldn't remember anyone like that in the Organization he knew.
His vision was blurry as he saw someone walking over to him. He saw a glimpse of white hair. Was it the man who spoke in his dream?
"You must be the heathen that filled Quasimodo's head with thoughts of going out to see the festival…"
"Frollo." Riku recognized then, standing up to face him. He glanced over to the bell tower's window before summoning his keyblade. "After everything you did to him, Quasimodo deserves to see the outside world for himself."
"Everything I did to?" Frollo growled. Riku could almost hear a tinge of fear in his voice. "Surely you mean everything I did for him."
"No, I said it right the first time."
Frollo's eyes widened as he summoned a Nightmare as colorful as the stained glass windows of the cathedral. "You… you…!"
Riku unfolded his wings after Kou fused with him, he glowed like the sun thanks to his status as a prince of heart.
But Frollo didn't see him as such. For all he knew, this was one of God's angels sent to smite him for his crimes. "Get away!"
Riku's light brightened, blinding the man.
Frollo stumbled back as the world around them flickered between how it was here, a bright sunny day, and how it was in another version, burning in fire. The man tripped back and into the flames.
Riku barely had time to register his demise seeing as the Nightmare was ready to pounce. The boy ran past it before diving off the cathedral. His wings spread out behind him as he shot bright white casts of fire and ice. As he dodged the blasts of fire sent at him, he kept his eyes on his opponent. He narrowed his eyes, locking on its head. "End of the line."
He whizzed through past the thorns and blasts sent his way before plunging into it.
With the Nightmare vanquished, the world returned to its usual self. Riku landed safely among the turrets, panting slightly.
Koumori appeared by his side.
"Thanks, Kou."
"Riku? Are you alright?"
Riku saw Quasimodo leaping across the rooftops to meet him. "Yeah, I'm fine! How about you?"
"Well, I think I'm ready as I'll ever be for the festival." Quasimodo smiled nervously, adjusting his cloak.
"You can do it, Quasi. Just go out there and see the world, you deserve it." Riku assured him. Quasimodo wouldn't have to worry about Frollo interrupting his fun, at least, not in this version of the world.
"Riku, thank you for everything."
Riku watched him descend down the cathedral with a smile as the keyhole suddenly appeared before him. He looked around, wondering if Kairi and Sora were by his side even if they were worlds apart.
Sure enough, two beams shot from seemingly nowhere, unlocking the keyhole.
He smiled, having a feeling it was still a race to see which would pass through first, Kairi had probably already declared it. He ran into the next world.