Disclaimer: I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh, Disney, Digimon or any copyrighted materials referenced in this episode. I also do not own MillenniumPrincess's interpretations of the Yu-Gi-Oh characters. Without further ado, enjoy this episode made possible by Disney's The Hunchback of Notre Dame.

Episode XXI (21): New Friendships; New Enemy

When Matthias opened his eyes, he noticed a young man who was 18 to 19 years old. The young man had short blond hair and greenish blue eyes. He was wearing clothes that were turquoise color appropriate for the time.

Matthias smiled, "Darius."

Darius turned to see a young boy who was fourteen years old with red hair and green eyes wearing clothes suitable for a young chaplain.

Darius asked, "Matthias. Why are you here?"

"Mickey Mouse came to the church and told me about the missing teenagers and their history teacher," he explained. "He also told me you and your sister would be here too."

Darius looked around and he saw his older sister wearing clothing suitable for a church-going woman. She was accompanied by Chuck who was wearing clothing similar to Clopin except they were a pale lavender color.

Matthias noticed a rat with black fur scurrying in a frantic manner as if he didn't want to get caught.

Darius cried out to his older sister, "Maria. We're a few blocks away from the church."

"Darius!" Maria cried.

Maria ran to her younger brother and Matthias and Matthias noticed a mirror in Maria's hands.

Chuck noticed a rat with black fur scurrying in a frantic manner as if he didn't want to get caught.

Chuck remembered that one of the missing students was in the form of a rat. Without hesitation, he picked up the rat and to his surprise, he saw an unusual eye color for a rat. The rat's eyes were the color of a hazelnut.

Chuck asked the rat, "Natius?"

The rat commented stated with Natius's voice, "You peeked, Chucky."

Chuck never liked the killer doll and had a notorious reputation of buying Chucky dolls from yard sales in his neighborhood, and then taking them to a shooting range to use the dolls as ballistic dummies for when he would demonstrate the brutality of weapons that he would scrutinize in his videos.

Matthias asked, "Did that rodent just talk?"

Darius heard it too. "Ignatius Takahashi?"

The rat looked at the young man. "Darius de Chatapuers?"

Maria spoke up. "Sorry to interrupt, but I think we should find a place to hide." She was right. It was too dangerous for her and her friends to be out in public right now. Soldiers that often patrolled the streets would think they were gypsies and arrest them.

Matthias saw Notre Dame in the distance. "Let's hurry to the cathedral before someone sees us."

The small group began hurrying to the cathedral of Notre Dame and Natius signaled his friends to follow him as they hurried to the cathedral hoping to find sanctuary from the prejudice of Frollo.

Once everyone safely made it inside, they could finally explain what was going on. Maria and her brother and friends saw the animals they were informed about and figured that these were the missing teenagers. But there were other animals in the group that Mickey didn't mention.

Natius introduced the other animals as Anakin, Vandela, Omar, Toboé, and Nausicaä.

Darius asked, "Can you please tell me why you were turned into animals?"

"To avoid Frollo," Natius answered. "We're all of different ethnicities and he can easily target us for that. So, if he were to see us as humans, he'd have us killed instantly."

They heard footsteps of a man who was in his early thirties with dark brown hair and intense brown eyes. He too was wearing clothing suited for the time period.

The man looked in astonishment at the inside of the church and he stated to the children, "My name is Brutus Arctos. I don't mean you any harm."

Vandela looked felt concern as something was not right about that man.

Brutus looked down at the animals. "You must be the ones Master Yen Sid spoke of." He turned to the others. "But he didn't mention a group of people."

"Master Yen Sid sent you?" Natius asked.

"Yes," Brutus answered, "to face a trial of some sort; a trial in understanding the meaning of love."

Maria thought back to how Mickey said the same thing; a trial in understanding true beauty.

Darius stated, "I have a trial to understand valor."

Matthias took the pendant from around his neck, wondering if he had a trial in understanding what it meant to represent miracles.

Chuck wondered if he had a trial as well. After all, his ancestor was the leader of the gypsies who lived underground, and he did have a talent for storytelling whilst spreading cheer and laughter.

Mahad asked as noticed Chuck, "Aren't you that guy who would use Chucky dolls as targets for those demonstration videos?"

Chuck stated, "That's right. Though I did get laughs on the video of that wretched doll being burned like a heretic at the stake."

"His ancestor was a puppeteer," the polecat pointed out.

Chuck asked, "How do you know about my reputation?"

Mahad added, "My older brother would be laughing at videos of that doll being brutally mauled by weapons from different time periods."

Bianca smiled as she hopped to her side, "Hey Maria. Did you get the soundtrack that was stolen from you?"

Maria answered as she began to stroke the hare's fur, "Yes, but its music was ripped onto the polecat's laptop. To be honest, I bet Aladdin would be a very badass polecat. Then again, he would be ashamed that one of his descendants pulled a stupid theft."

She asked Bianca, "Of all the animals native to France, why take the form of a bunny rabbit?"

Bianca corrected, "I'm a mountain hare technically. These guys have eyes that are always alert and have really good hearing. Also, my ancestress was seen with two rabbits."

Brutus didn't know what the heroes were talking about, but he noticed Danyal was feeling uneasy as she knew something was wrong with this man.

Brutus asked the magpie, "What's bothering you? You don't have to be afraid of me."

"I'm not afraid." she said truthfully.

"Then what's the matter?" he asked again.

Danyal replied to Brutus, "Something tells me that you are no man whatsoever."

Maria asked, "What?"

A shocked expression crossed his face. "How could you tell?"

"When you mentioned having to face a trial of love, I knew of another who represented that element: a bear named Kenai." she explained.

Darius stated, "I thought that movie flunked in the box office."

The mouse spoke up with Jeanette's voice. "If Kenai is your ancestor, what are you doing here in Paris instead of the Alaskan wilderness?"

"I asked myself that question too," Brutus confessed. "Master Yen Sid said there's a princess who also represents love and that she's here in Paris."

Bianca scoffed. "There's no princess in this world."

Brutus pointed out, "There might be one from the Warner Domain."

The young man turned to see the mink and Brutus asked the mink, "Are you the maternal great-grandson of Tiana Verdance?"

Zander retorted, "Yes, why?"

"Master Yen Sid told me of your family as well," he answered.

Brutus asked Zander, "What happened to Tiana?"

Zander answered with sadness in his tone, "She and Great Grandpa Naveen died in Hurricane Katrina."

Brutus was saddened to hear that.

While everyone was talking, Darius noticed a small group coming from the stairwell nearby. There were two young boys with red hair and black hair and a girl with blonde hair tied to the sides. Thinking he had seen them before, he softly cried, "Hey!"

But the children didn't hear him and walked to one of the nearby exits.

As the children left, Bianca hopped over to see the trio.

Danyal muttered, "No way."

Natius asked Matthias, "Is there a statue of Saint Michael the Archangel?"

He nodded and led the group further into the church.

The group followed Matthias to see a statue depicting Saint Michael standing in triumph on top of the devil pointing his spear towards the devil's head.

Natius scurried over to find some incense stones.

Danyal snapped, "Not a good idea to use it in this form."

Natius asked, "Why not?"

Danyal answered, "Animals react differently to incense."

Brutus nodded. "An animal's senses are a thousand times stronger than a human's. We have keener sight and hearing, our sense of smell is stronger, and we're more in tune with nature."

Natius put down the incense and clasped his paws in prayer and he prayed, "Saint Michael the Archangel, I and my group claim sanctuary from a prejudiced man."

While most of the group was praying, Chuck and Maria were keeping an eye out in case the minister would be in the church. Darius thought about the children he saw earlier and wondered what they were doing in the bell tower.

Bianca hopped over to see a statue depicting a woman holding a rabbit in her hands. It was a statue of St. Melangell, the patron saint of rabbits and hares.

She prayed, "Saint Melangell, I pray that you will protect from the demon that lurks in these holy stone walls."

Anakin looked at the statue of the Virgin Mary holding Baby Jesus in her arms.

Toboé was praying to a statue of St. Francis of Assisi. "Please keep us safe from that evil man."

Brutus didn't understand the concept of praying, but he figured he might as well join them.

Brutus looked at a statue of a man being mauled by a bear, He knelt down and clasped his hands in prayer, "Holy Mother and Saint Corbinian, I come before you as a bear transfigured into a man to understand the meaning of love."

Natius looked at Brutus and was intrigued to see him praying. He also remembered reading from the Bible that to know love, you must first come to know God, for God is love.

Danyal prayed, "I hope that we find Mr. Virgil and return home safely."

Mahad bowed and whispered in prayer, "Heavenly Father, I know You know we all come from different worlds. Please have mercy on us and forgive us our trespasses."

Something crossed Natius's mind as he remembered that time when Mr. Virgil was discussing about Joan of Arc, the history teacher told his class about the time that he invoked Saint Joan of Arc in his prayers when he was held captive in the 1990s.

Zander prayed, "Lord, have mercy on those who have come and gone in the past regardless of domain."

Having spent enough time praying, the heroes decided it was time to figure out what to do next. They needed to figure out where they were going to stay while they were here in Paris. But where would they go? Would the archdeacon allow a group of animals to stay in the church? Would they go out in public only to risk facing persecution from Frollo and his brutal soldiers?

Bianca noticed a flight of stairs and she stated, "I think we might ask the bell ringer for help."

"What?" Maria asked. "We can't just go up to the bell tower, Bianca. It's off-limits."

"That doesn't apply to some people, apparently," said Darius. "A while ago, I saw some kids come downstairs from the tower."

Chuck gave a look of confusion. "Who else besides Frollo would visit the hunchback?"

Brutus answered, "Master Yen Sid had informed me of a small group from a separate domain."

Chuck asked, "Domains, what are you talking about?"

Natius remembered hearing the same thing. "That's right. When we first saw King Mickey in Solar Castle, he said that children from the Warner Domain were seen here in Paris."

"Mickey came to us too," said Maria. "He also said Digimon have been seen here too."

"Digimon? In Medieval Paris?" Natius asked.

Chuck pointed out, "The Digimon followed their partners."

This caused a lot of astonishment to the heroes. First people from the Warner Domain were seen here in Paris, now Digimon too?

"Mickey said that the Digimon that were seen here belonged to a different group of heroes," said Darius. "Maybe they're partners to the people who came from the Warner Domain."

Mana asked, "Would the Court of Miracles allow animals?"

"Are you crazy?" Chuck asked. "We'd be hanged by my own ancestor before any of us would explain ourselves."

"He has a point," Zander replied, remembering what happened in the film.

"I agree with Bianca, though," said Darius. "Maybe we should take a chance and go to the bell tower."

The heroes began to take the flight of stairs and when they reached to the end of the stairs, Danyal looked in amazement of the view of the city of Paris.

Bianca stated, "This isn't a time for pictures. You don't even have hands to take pictures."

Natius saw a door to the bell tower opened.

Mana was feeling uneasy about this. "I don't know if this is a good idea. I mean, he doesn't get out, so I don't think he would take talk animals naturally."

"He talks to gargoyles," Zander pointed out.

Danyal pointed out, "Also there are birds that would nest in the cathedral. Like that baby bird."

The others still weren't too sure. Natius knew that most people didn't like rats or mice, but he figured that those kinds of animals were seen in the tower as well.

The heroes entered the tower and Danyal looked ahead and she was amazed by the number of bells within the tower.

When they all came to the main area, they saw the hunchback sitting at a table. He noticed them too and was amazed, for he had never seen so many different animals at once. "Where did you all come from?" He asked.

Danyal had no idea how to react and she lied, "We come from the garden in the cathedral."

He gasped and said, "You can talk."

"Yes, but you don't seem very surprised," Bianca said in response to his tone.

He chuckled and replied, "Well, to be honest, this isn't the first time I've seen talking animals."

Mahad asked, "This isn't your first time, sir?"

"What animals have you met before?" Mana asked.

Quasimodo described the creatures he saw. "A white cat with blue eyes. She also wore green gloves, and she had a gold ring around her tail. There was also a brown rabbit with pink patterns and three horns on her head."

The descriptions were not unfamiliar to any of the heroes. "Those aren't animals," said Natius. "They're Digimon." This meant that Mickey was telling the truth about Digimon being seen in this world.

Quasimodo asked, "How were you able to speak?"

Danyal answered, "The nine animals that you see here and I, have human souls. We were turned into animals to avoid your master who would kill us all if we were our true selves."

Quasimodo had not seen a magpie before asked her, "What kind of bird are you?"

Danyal answered, "A Eurasian magpie, in some cultures the bird would bring good fortune and some Native American tribes considered the magpie as a prophetess as they are very intelligent birds. So intelligent to imitate voices of anyone they hear. Including a child's laughter."

Brutus pointed out, "They can also be annoying birds. I can bet that Frollo would hate crows, ravens, and magpies."

Bianca asked, "But why?"

Mahad answered, "Some folks believe that crows and ravens are a bad omen. Magpies are considered associated with witches."

Danyal flew over to a small table covered by wooden tablets with strange symbols.

Matthias took a step forward. "Excuse me."

The hunchback turned away, not wanting to frighten the young man or the others. It was one thing to be around animals and another to be around people.

Matthias smiled gently. "You don't have to be afraid of us. We won't hurt you."

"Your appearance doesn't bother us," said Darius.

Seeing there was no point in trying to hide, Quasimodo looked at Matthias and his friends. It was a little strange to Matthias, standing in front of this man. The hunchback also noticed how similar the boy almost looked to him. Finally, he got his courage and asked, "Who are you?"

"My name is Matthias," he answered. "These are my friends Chuck, Darius, and Maria."

Before they could continue, Mahad suddenly said, "Hey, guys, look at this!"

Everyone approached the table and saw pallets of wood with many different images.

"Hey, those look like crests," said Natius.

The hunchback looked and saw that they looked similar to the ones his friends had been making.

This caused Matthias to take out his father's pendant. He showed it to the hunchback. "Does this image mean anything to you?"

Quasimodo looked at the pendant. "I don't think so," he replied. "Why do you ask?"

"No reason," he shrugged.

Danyal noticed two of the symbols looked like the ones Thomas and Nakoma had discovered following the defeat of Ratcliffe.

Chuck recognized the rosebud and he cried, "Hey, the Crest of Kindness!"

Natius looked at the stylized rose and he remembered seeing that symbol on Snow White's new dress when she awoke as the Walt Maiden of Kindness, "That was the crest I saw on Snow White's dress."

The heroes weren't able to admire the wooden pallets for too long. Nausicaä alerted her friends, "We've got trouble."

Mahad looked out the window and saw the minister. "Oh, no. Frollo's coming."

There was no time to get everyone out of the tower. "All of you, hide," Quasimodo pleaded. "Please, I don't want him to see any of you."

The heroes understood and began looking for various hiding spots.

The heroes began hiding among the shadows and away from Frollo.

Frollo walked up to the bell tower.

Once he made sure everyone was hidden and out of sight, Quasimodo welcomed his master. "Good morning, Master," he said fearfully.

He gave a curt nod in response, then asked, "Dear boy, whomever are you talking to?"

Quasimodo hesitated a bit. "Myself." he answered.

"I see," Frollo said calmly, looking around the bell tower. If he had not caught the hunchback talking to himself or his friends before, he would have found his behavior suspicious. On that note, where were his friends? "Those friends of yours are not here today?"

"No, Master. They left earlier this morning."

As Natius listened, he was puzzled. Frollo had forbidden any contact with outsiders, yet the hunchback had friends and the minister didn't seem furious about this.

Darius listened too, wondering if he was referring to the trio he saw earlier.

"Did they happen to say where they were going?" Frollo asked.

"No, I didn't ask," Quasimodo answered. He hoped his friends weren't in any trouble.

Frollo stated, "Very well."

"If it's all right with you, Master, when I next see them, I can let them know you're looking for them."

"That's acceptable," the minister replied.

Quasimodo was afraid to ask, but he did it anyway. "Are they in trouble?"

The minister came up with a lie. "I only wanted to warn them to be careful. You see, I was reported of a bear being sighted in the city and I became concerned about the safety of your friends."

Brutus listened, wondering if the man was talking about him.

"A bear? In the city?" Quasimodo asked fearfully.

"Do not worry, Quasimodo. As long as you are here, no harm will come to you," said Frollo. "My men are doing everything to make sure that the people are safe."

"Oh, of course," Quasimodo replied. "And I'll be sure to let my friends know when I see them."

Frollo nodded and began to take his leave. Once he made sure his master was out of sight, Quasimodo told the heroes that the coast was heroes came out of their hiding spots relieved the minister had left.

Quasimodo still had that worried look on his face. The thought of a bear being in the city terrified him. He wasn't worried about himself because he was safe here in the tower, as his master stated. But his friends, would they be all right?

Brutus was just as worried for himself. Did the minister know he was here? But Brutus didn't arrive in this world in his true form as a bear, so how would Frollo know?

Mahad asked, "Are you okay, sir?"

"No," the hunchback replied. "You heard what he said. Someone told him they saw a bear in the city."

Bianca scoffed. "You shouldn't believe everything he says, you know. In my eyes, that was such a false display of concern."

Her friends agreed.

Darius spoke up. "Before we came up here, we noticed a small group of children coming from the stairwell that led to this tower. I take it those were your friends?" Seeing him nod, he assures him, "I don't think you have anything to worry about. I'm sure they'll be back safely."

Bianca asked, "When are those guys going to show up?"

"They usually come at the end of the day," Quasimodo answered.

"Well, that's not so bad," said Natius. "In the meantime, would it be all right if we all stayed here in the tower?"

Quasimodo gave it some thought. If this group was really trying to avoid Frollo and if there really was a bear in the city, then it wouldn't be right to just leave them out there unprotected. Finally, he said, "Of course. I was about to ask if you needed a place to stay anyway."

"Is that all right?" Maria asked. "I mean, we wouldn't want to impose."

"Not at all," the hunchback insisted.

"Well, thanks," Darius replied. This was great. This meant he could confirm his suspicions about the trio he saw earlier. Brutus also thought about if he should reveal the truth about actually being a bear. He decided to wait a little while before doing so.

Natius looked at the tablet with the symbol of kindness.

There were other pallets with different images. Jeanette saw one with the image of a droplet and recognized it as the symbol for sincerity.

Bianca noticed the symbol for dreams.

Danyal recognized two of the symbols of faith and steadfastness.

Brutus picked up a tablet that depicted a stylized heart that was a lighter red than the rosebud tablet.

Danyal having seen Digimon years ago said to Brutus, "That's the crest of love, Boo-Boo Bear."

She began laughing.

Brutus growled at her. Quasimodo looked at the pallet. "It looks similar to the one the princess has."

Brutus gave a surprised expression. "Princess? You've met her? Is she still here? Do you know where I can find her?"

"Hey, take it easy, Brutus," said Zander.

Darius noticed a tablet with a stylized lion's roaring head that was a fiery-golden color. Maria picked up the tablet depicting a lavender stylized mirror.

Chuck noticed a tablet depicting a stylized, maroon-colored mask and he asked, "What is that symbol?"

Mahad stated, "I bet that's something that your ancestor would wear to generate laughter."

Danyal commented seeing the tablet, "Or it could be something Pinkie Pie would use for her element, laughter."

"Hardy har har," Chuck said sarcastically. It made sense to Natius. After all, his ancestor was an entertainer.

Danyal asked as she noticed a familiar symbol shaped like a stylized star. Strangely, it was a turquoise color.

She asked, "Why is the crest of light turquoise? I thought it was a light pink."

Mana and Mahad saw wooden pallets containing the images of the symbols for joy and reliability. Omar saw one containing the image of the symbol for honesty.

Danyal turned to see three other symbols.

She asked Natius, "Is the flame meteor symbol of courage?"

"I wouldn't know," Quasimodo replied. "I didn't carve these."

Danyal began to wonder, "If Quasimodo didn't carve them, then who?"

"Must be someone who knows the elements," Natius figured.

Quasimodo was amazed at how everyone in this whole group knew about the many different elements.

Mahad asked, "When is the Festival of Fools?"

Brutus asked as he didn't know anything about it, "Festival of Fools?"

"The day after tomorrow," Quasimodo answered.

"It's a time when everyone in Paris gets to have fun," Bianca explained. "People get to dress up in ridiculous costumes and dance around and then the most foolish looking person is crowned king of the festival."

It sounded somewhat interesting to Brutus. He wondered if it was the festival Master Yen Sid told him about. He also wondered if that would be when he would see this princess.

Danyal wondered if that day would be the day, she would find out who made those pallets.

Natius looked at the pallet with the symbol of kindness.

Zander looked at Natius, "I need to have a talk with you in privacy."

So, the mink and the rat went to a more secluded area in the tower. "What's up?" Natius asked.

Zander answered, "Since we have a bear among our group, I would recommend that you don't set a single paw out of line. Remember that time we visited the Los Angeles Zoo for our field trip in our freshmen year? I have a feeling that Brutus was the bear that gave a bluff charge and when he stood on his hind legs, it scared you. Remember that?"

Natius answered, "Especially when that bear gave a gaze that can look into a human's soul."

"And there's no telling what Brutus can do as a human," Zander added. "But since he doesn't know much, we'll also have to teach him a few things on how to act like a human."

"What's to teach?" Natius asked. "He's seen hundreds of people come and go all his life."

Zander smirked, "I plan to tutor him about how to handle a rodent."

Natius asked, "What? Why?"

Zander replied, "Rats are sneaky rodents and knowing you, you're going to try to change one event. I got one word of advice: change one event, you change everything."

Natius asked, "What are you talking about?"

Zander replied, "You know what I refer to. That pelting fiasco."

Reluctant as he was, Natius didn't want an event of cruelty to happen. But he knew Zander was right. He had to control himself. But what would happen if it went too far? Would he lose it and take action? Everybody would only know at the festival.

Natius felt a sense of sadness for what would unfold.

Zander asked him, "You do know that you are not the only boy to wield the element of kindness, right?"

Natius asked, "What do you mean?"

"We'll discuss that later," Zander told him. "Just think about what I said."

Natius nodded in response.

For the next few hours, the heroes explored the tower a little bit. Suddenly, a voice called out, "We're back!"

Quasimodo's smile brightened up. "It's my friends," he said happily. And the same children from earlier came into the main room.

Natius looked at the stairway to see the same children Darius had seen.

The hunchback was happy to see that his friends had returned safely. "Come on. I want to show you all something." And he showed them the new friends he made today.

The children looked at the many different animals in wonder. "Whoa. Check out all the animals," the redheaded boy said.

"Have you made some new friends since we left?" the girl asked, noticing the people in the group as well.

"I don't believe this," Natius muttered.

Quadimodo introduced the children to the heroes. "Everyone, these are my best friends in the whole world: Mokuba Kaiba, Rebecca Hawkins, and Leon Von Schroeder."

Danyal asked, "Do you know who carved the wooden pallets?"

Rebecca gave a small yelp. "A talking magpie!"

The hunchback chuckled nervously. "Oh, I forgot to mention, they're actually people who've been magically transformed into animals."

"What? How?" Mokuba asked.

"By Master Yen Sid," said Natius.

The name was not unfamiliar to the children. They knew him as the great sorcerer from the film Fantasia.

Then the thought came to Natius, was it Yen Sid who made the wooden pallets? Apparently, the children didn't seem to recognize any of them.

Mahad asked Natius whispering in his ear, "Should we ask Figaro, later?"

Natius answered, "Yes."

Danyal stated, "To answer your question, why we were transformed: It was cast to avoid being detected by a prejudiced man."

"You must mean Frollo," Leon said. "We can imagine. Anyone would want to avoid him."

"But what are you all doing here?" Mokuba asked.

"We should be asking you three that," said Darius. The children looked at him in astonishment. They carried the same expressions as they looked at Chuck, Maria, and Matthias, seeing how they all looked so much like the heroes of this world.

"What are you all staring at?" Darius asked.

The children composed themselves. "It's just, you guys all look..." Mokuba was saying. Rebecca stopped him and shook her head.

But they understood. "Don't worry, we get it," said Maria.

Chuck asked, "What brings you here? Did you stumble here by accident like in that 90s show with Gimili as a college professor?"

Leon answered, "No."

Anakin turned his attention to the pallets and looked at the wooden pallet depicting a stylized eye that was a beautiful shade of blue and he thought to himself, "I remember seeing this in a dream after my first night in the Beast's castle. What does it mean?"

Mokuba explained the story, saying he was having problems at home and needed to get away. Rebecca came along to keep him company. They came to an enchanted place known as the Secret Garden, hoping to find a hiding spot or a secret place for them and their friends and that was when they found a door to this world. The two of them wound up in Paris, explored a little, then came to Notre Dame and met and befriended Quasimodo. Not too long after, Leon joined in on the fun.

As Natius listened to the story, he recalled what King Mickey said back in Solar Castle about children from the Warner Domain being seen in this world. He certainly had not expected to see these three. He also noticed pallets of wood hanging from their necks. "Those crests around your necks, what do they mean?" If he was right about what he was thinking, then this would confirm everything.

The pallet around Mokuba's neck contained an image of two crescents positioned opposite from each other with two dots; one above and another below. This symbolized empathy. The image on Rebecca's pallet was a pair of circles connected together like a pair of spectacles. She said it was the symbol for knowledge. On Leon's pallet, there was a crescent positioned down like a frown with two dots at each corner. Beneath it was a v-shaped outline with a dot on the bottom and there was a diamond between the shapes. He said it meant innocence.

Those were the same elements King Mickey mentioned. This meant that these children were indeed the ones he was talking about.

Anakin turned his attention to the pallets and looked at the wooden pallet depicting a stylized eye that was a beautiful shade of blue and he thought to himself, "I remember seeing this in a dream after my first night in the Beast's castle. What does it mean?"

Mokuba asked, "Beast's Castle?"

Anakin heard him and was snapped out of his thoughts. He then explained that before he met Natius and the others, he was staying at the Beast's castle with Toboé and Vandela after they were rescued from the Dark Masters. While at the castle, Anakin had a dream about meeting someone and seeing the same image.

Anakin asked, "Do you know what the image means?"

The children looked at the image. It wasn't familiar to any of them. "We don't," the raven-haired boy said.

Anakin was at a loss of words until Danyal flew over to see the symbol and she stated, "That's the symbol of friendship."

Anakin asked, "How would you know that?"

Danyal answered, "I watched Digimon when I was younger."

"That's Joey's element," said Mokuba.

Mokuba asked Anakin, "Did you remember what that person holding the image looked like?"

Anakin tried to remember. "A young man with brown hair."

Mokuba began trying to remember who would fit that description.

Natius asked Anakin, "Was the young man, Sora from the Destiny Islands?"

"No," Anakin answered. "I don't think so. He had a British accent." He tried to remember other things like what the man said and what his name was, but he couldn't.

Danyal answered, "James Henry Trotter."

She asked the group, "Who will have a show of hands or paws if they have heard of James and the Giant Peach?"

Darius, Maria, Chuck, Matthias, Mokuba, Rebecca, and Leon raised their hands. All the animals except for Toboé and Vandela and Brutus raised their paws.

"I read the book too," Bianca boasted.

Rebecca asked Bianca, "What were your thoughts on the movie? Would the author be pleased?"

Bianca answered refraining from using strong language, "The rhino eating up James's parents was highly unlikely! They were gored to death in a brutal manner. As for the aunts, they were crushed by the peach as it rolled away from that ugly house. Besides those two were whiny airheads. Also knowing the author, he would not be impressed in the slightest. He hated Willy Wonka; I don't blame him for that. Dahl was also very disappointed with the way the 1990 Witches adaptation changed the ending of his book. I highly doubt that he would approve of Matilda."

Leon asked Anakin, "Why did James appear to you?"

"I have no idea," Anakin said.

Brutus approached the children. "I need to ask you three, do you know anything about a princess who represents love? I tried asking Quasimodo, but I couldn't get any answers."

The children looked at each other, carrying expressions of concern. "What's it to you?" Mokuba asked.

"Master Yen Sid said she could help me on the path to understanding love and that I could find her here."

Rebecca narrowed her eyes. "How do we know we can trust you?"

Brutus looked to the hunchback. "When your master came by today, he said he heard about a bear in Paris."

Quasimodo nodded. "But what does that have to do with anything?"

Leon spoke up. "We were out on the town all day and we didn't hear anyone say anything about something like that."

Rebecca scoffed. "If you ask me, Frollo is just looking for new ways to make sure we don't interfere with whatever he's up to."

"Be that as it may, I have a confession," Brutus was saying. "And I'm just warning you, it may be a lot to take in." He took a deep breath and confessed, "I'm really a bear."

Rebecca stifled a laugh. "Excuse me?"

"It's the truth," said Brutus. "Master Yen Sid transformed me into a human."

Natius stated, "I have seen him as a bear in my freshman year and trust me, he can be intimidating. Brutus has a notorious reputation in the L.A. Zoo for glaring at misbehaving students regardless of their grade or age. The look in his eyes felt as if the bear was looking into my soul. When Brutus stood on his hind legs, he towered over me at seven to ten feet. One seventh grade boy made a big mistake by calling him Boo-Boo Bear once."

Brutus laughed, "I gave that kid a bluff charge and I told him that he needed to go back to the rest of his group or face harsh penalties for not following directions."

He took out the family stone necklace that was hidden under his shirt, the necklace depicted a bear clutching a stylized heart that was gray as the stone.

The children had only seen one stone like this, and it was the one that belonged to Kenai.

Brutus put it away and said, "I think Frollo was talking about me. Somehow, he knows I'm here. I'm just hoping he doesn't know I'm in this form."

Mokuba gave a gentle smile. "Don't worry. We won't tell him anything."

"But are you sure?" Leon asked Brutus. "How would he know?"

Mahad spoke up. "Frollo has nearly unlimited resources, he's smart, and he's a-"

"Don't!" Mokuba immediately cried. "Don't say it!"

"Why not?" Natius asked.

The dark-haired boy took a deep breath. "Look, can we discuss this privately?" And he walked out on the balcony with Natius, Danyal, and Mahad following him.

The trio of animals followed Mokuba to a secluded corner of the tower away from the others.

Natius asked, "What's this about?"

"I need you guys to promise me something," the boy whispered. "You can't reveal that Frollo is a Dark Master."

"What? Why not?" Natius asked.

"Shh!" Mokuba hissed. "Look, he already made me, and Rebecca and Leon swear to keep quiet about it. He said if we ever told Quasi that Frollo was a Dark Master, not only would the minister hurt us, but he'd also hurt our friend too. And if that jerk were to abuse him any more than he already has, it would be our fault."

Danyal was disgusted and she stated, "We shall swear an oath of secrecy. We need to tell the rest of our group with the exception of Quasimodo about this oath."

Mokuba wanted so badly to tell Quasimodo, but he had no choice but to keep quiet. It was for his own good as well as his friends'.

Danyal asked Mokuba, "Should I bring the others here, except Quasimodo? This is to make an oath of secrecy."

The boy gave a nod. "He'll be getting ready to ring the evening mass, so he won't be able to be a part of this."

Quasimodo began to ring the bell for evening mass.

Anakin began to hear some singing and he went to investigate it.

Nausicaä swooped down and caught Anakin in her talons, and she flew towards the secluded corner where Danyal was as she guided Zander and Bianca, Mana, Omar, Vandela, and Toboé to the corner that was secluded.

Danyal stated, "This will be brief and to the point, we have to swear not to tell Quasimodo of Frollo's affiliation with the Dark Masters."

"What?" Bianca asked. "That's outrageous! He has to know!"

"No!" said Natius. "It could interfere with the world orders."

"Not only that, Frollo could seriously hurt Quasimodo and those children," Mahad added.

Vandela stated, "I will take that oath. That minister will regret abusing others."

"Oh, come on," Bianca complained.

"Look, those kids already assured us that they wouldn't say anything about us," said Natius. "We should do the same and keep this oath. We have to protect each other from that bigoted jerk." Then the thought came to him. "Hey, wait a second." He looked at Mokuba. "How did you know Frollo was a, you-know-what?"

"We've been coming here for weeks," he said. "And we've had a few encounters with Frollo. My brother's also been doing research."

Nausicaä noticed that Anakin had left to investigate the singing of a male choir of priests and altar servers.

Anakin watched as the archdeacon was swinging his thurible back and forth as he and the monks were chanting a Latin prayer for protection during the nightfall.

Nausicaä asked hovering over the marten, "What are you doing here?"

"Shh," Anakin hissed. "Stay low or they'll see you."

Nausicaä didn't want to take that risk after receiving Danyal's warning, which she had to remind him of. "Anakin, your sense of smell is more sensitive now. If you take in any incense, you'll get sick."

Anakin began to remember what Danyal informed him and he asked, "Where are they now?"

Nausicaä replied, "They're at the corner and they are making an oath of secrecy. You need to take part in that oath as well."

She picked him up and flew low and dropped him off at the secluded corner of the bell tower.

Danyal asked Anakin, "Do you understand the oath that you are going to swear?"

"I do, but I think Bianca has a point," said Anakin. "There's a lot of stuff that Frollo doesn't want Quasi to know that I think he should know."

"When the time is right," said Zander. "There's a reason Frollo is a, you-know-what."

Toboé looked at Anakin. "He's right. We've seen what he's capable of. We have to swear absolute secrecy for our protection and everyone else's."

Anakin stated, "I will take that oath of secrecy."

Mana agreed, "That minister will be in for a big surprise."

Danyal asked, "So we unanimously agree not to discuss about the other worlds nor of Frollo as a Dark Master to Quasimodo?"

Mahad warned, "Anyone who breaks this oath will have severe consequences."

"We can't agree to the second term," said Bianca. "I think Quasi should know of our ancestries."

"No," Jeanette protested. "We can't tell him about Maria, Darius, Chuck, or Matthias. Those kids are suspicious enough about that."

Leon knew she was referring to him and his friends. "We won't say anything. We promise."

Bianca reluctantly agreed and she muttered, "This plan better not fail."

Danyal asked, "What should we do about the new group? They should know that our history teacher has been possessed by a demonic toon named Judge Doom."

"Why should we tell them anything?" Bianca asked.

Danyal stated, "What I meant is once we deal with the bigoted pig-head and end his genocidal shenanigans, we have to explain our situation."

Natius and the others were in agreement.

Bianca smiled, "Nice."

With the pact being sealed and everyone swearing to the oath, the heroes decided to turn in for the night. Mokuba looked at them and thought, maybe there's more to them than meets the eye. Mokuba had no idea how right he was.

Author's Notes: Looks like the heroes have made new friends? Will they uphold their pact of secrecy? Tune in next episode. There's a new poll regarding the latest episode. I am pleased to announce that my older sister is expecting her first child.