Of Spires and Steeples (Open)

[Arthur]

"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" screamed a young boy as he fell from the sky and landed hard on cold stone steps, tumbling down them until he found himself sprawled out on the ground. Rolling over, the boy stared up at a dark sky. Not a moment afterwards, it began to rain, the force of the downpour getting stronger every moment. He slowly pulled himself up and found himself back in a standing position, though as he did so, searing pain shot through him. The boy winced as he also found himself covered in mud. "How delightful..." he thought sarcastically.

The boy was Arthur, King of England. He hadn't always been King, though. In fact, he had once been a squire under Sir Kay and Sir Ector, and had once been called "Wart". But ever since he pulled the legendary sword Excalibur from the anvil in the churchyard, he was now ruler of an entire country! But back to his current predicament.

Arthur looked at what lay before him. It was a strange village, with black rivers from which strange metal beasts ran down, people dressed in such strange clothes, and lights everywhere! The boy screamed as he found himself standing on the black river, jumping onto the first of the steps he'd just tumbled down. The pain shot through him again as he did so, which made him fall to his knees. "D...Did I break something?" the king thought, looking down at the black river. He'd know if he broke something though; he'd broken bones on several occasions, usually while having to clean up after his foster father and brother--you know, slipping and the like.

Arthur just guessed he'd bruised his bones, and it would wear off eventually. But there was no time to worry about the pain! He had to get out of the rain, lest he get sick! Arthur turned his glance to what the steps led to. It was a church, much like the church he'd pulled the sword out of the anvil from. The boy decided to see if he could try to seek refuge there, at least until the rain stopped. But what dawned in comparison to even getting out of the rain was how the boy got here in the first place.

Clumsily, the king scrambled up the stairs and up to the church doors, where he opened the large door (which he could barely open, considering he was such a small and scrawny thing) and slid inside, shutting it behind him. Arthur now found himself in the sanctuary, and found it to be one of the most beautiful places he'd ever seen. "H...Have I died and gone to Heaven?" he thought, marveling at the splendor. After slapping himself in the face to make sure, he found that he was still alive. What a relief!

He decided to go sit in one of the pews and try to think things out, and also maybe rest his weary body. Arthur walked over to one in the front and took a seat. He found it odd there was no one here besides himself (or so he thought), and was surrounded in an eerie silence. Arthur than began to think. "So...how did I get here in the first place?" he thought, trying to remember back in time.

From what he could remember, Arthur had been on his way to Merlin's. The old wizard had scheduled another lesson for the boy, and Arthur didn't want to be late. According to Merlin, it was supposed to be something Arthur would really enjoy, which excited him greatly. The boy then remembered that when he was about halfway there, a strange light had surrounded him--that was where it went all blank. "So...whatever that light was, it must've dragged me here." But what was that light? Was it old Madam Mim casting some of her dark magic again in order to get revenge on the boy and Merlin? Or was it some other strange force?

Whatever the reason, Arthur was interrupted by a loud noise somewhere nearby. He quickly turned around and looked off into the candlelit sanctuary, trying to see if anyone was there. "Come out! Show yourself!" Arthur demanded, standing up and laying his hand on Excalibur. He always wore the sword sheathed at his side at all times. Who knew when he'd need to use it?

[esmerelda]

A white blur streaked out of a nearby doorway and headed straight towards Arthur. It was Djali, pet goat and faithful companion of the beautiful Gypsy Esmerelda. Loud noises made him skittish and he tore off through the church as if his tail were on fire.

Behind him, Esmerelda walked out of the same doorway, barefoot as usual thus making no sound as she walked. She headed in the same direction as the goat. "Djali, come back here. If you knock over candleabras, you should be prepared for the noise it makes."

She stopped suddenly when she spotted Arthur, her sharp eyes taking in his hand resting on his sword and her whole demeanor changed. No longer relaxed, her body was tense and on edge, ready for a fight. "Who are you? No soldiers can arrest anyone here, not those claiming santuary, the church is their protection."

[disneyvillianfan10]

Frollo all of a sudden appeared through the door he saw the little boy getting ready to fight someone and that someone looked quite familar to him..it was the Gypsy girl Esmerelda."Put down your sword boy this is a church you have santuary"he said to Arthur..he walked up to Esmerelda"Ah Esmerelda long time no see"he said with an evil grin remembering the last battle they had ontop of the Notre Dame.

[Arthur]

Arthur had been waiting for whatever the noise was. Maybe someone was stalking him, or maybe it was simply one of the clergy. The boy, however, was wrong in both assumptions. Looking down, he was met with the sight of a small goat coming towards him. "A...goat? What's a farm animal doing inside a church?" Arthur thought to himself. Never before had he been to a church where animals were allowed inside the sanctuary. Churches were places of God, not overly decorated barns.

He was about to bend down and pet Djali when the creature knocked over a candleabra and ran off, probably in fear of the loud clatter it had made. Arthur scratched his head and looked to see a tall, beautiful woman standing in the doorway. "She's the prettiest lady I've ever seen!" the king remarked to himself as Esmerelda comforted Djali. She then probably saw that his hand was still rested on Excalibur's hilt, and she commented on it, asking him who he was and saying that he couldn't fight here.

Arthur was about to reply when a strange, middle-aged man came inside, echoing Esmerelda's previous statement. Arthur took his hand off his sword and let his arms rest at his sides. "My apologies, Sir and Madam. My name's Arthur, and I didn't mean to offend you in any way. I'm not familiar with the workings of this particular church, as this is apparently my first time here." "But may I ask who you two are?" he said politely. It would just be odd for him to give them his name, and he not know theirs...

[esmerelda]

Esmerelda noted with relief when Arthur's hand relaxed on the sword and the tenseness left her body, only to return with swiftness when she spotted Frollo come through the door. She looked at Arthur, her eyes searching is for some kind of sign of kinship. "I would keep your hand upon that sword after all, Arthur. I am Esmerelda, I have claimed the sanctity of this church for one reason only and that is to protect me from the very man standing before us now. This is Judge Claude Frollo and he would like nothing more than to see me burn for eternity in the fires of hell, is that not correct, Minister?"

Her gaze turned upon Frollo, her eyes burning with hatred for the man who had once tried to kill her and those she held dear. "Certainly not long enough, Frollo."

[disneyvillianfan10]

That was right but he didn't want it to seem so obvious" My dear Esmerelda surly you dont want to use such language in front of our guest here and inside of a church as well..." He knew that she had a habit of swearing while around guests. "Yes that is quite right, why my plan didn't work I shall never know.... mustve been the work of your wichcraft"he said that last word with as much evil in his voice that he even scared himself.

[Arthur]

Arthur waited for a reply from the two strangers. He found it odd the way the old man spoke to the young woman; it was said in a way that sent shivers down the boy's spine. Perhaps this man's intentions weren't as pure as Arthur would've liked to have thought. It was then that the dark-skinned woman introduced herself...and the man as well.

Apparently, her name was Esmerelda (which the king thought a strange name), and the man was called Claude (again, a strange name to Arthur). From the way Esmerelda spoke of this "Claude Frollo" fellow, she and he obviously despised each other. Arthur glanced over at Frollo for a moment, and then back to Esmerelda. He was about to ask why the judge wanted her to suffer for all eternity in the Underworld when the judge spoke for her.

He practically called her a witch. Arthur gulped and looked at Esmerelda, trying to picture her as a witch. She couldn't of been a witch! Witches were ugly and had warts all over them (like Madam Mim), and only thought about harming people. Esmerelda, on the other hand, seemed to be a kind mannered sort of person. The boy felt deep down inside that he shouldn't truly trust Judge Frollo. Sighing, he spoke. "Well, it's nice to you Esmeralda and Mr. Frollo. But this woman a witch? She certainly doesn't seem like one." The boy closed his eyes and continued. "Might I ask Mr. Frollo, and pardon me if I sound rude, but where do you get this assumption that Esmerelda is one of the Devil's minions?"

[disneyvillianfan10]

Frollo looked upon the boy while keeping his eyes fixed upon Esmerelda..
" Well during our Feastival of Fools, which I despise going to but I must, our beautiful Gypsy girl here did a dance number after Clopin..another Gypsy did one of his so called Magic tricks that made it look like Esmerelda appeared out of thin air and once she did she layed her eyes upon me like she was conducting a spell to make me fall in love with her...isn't that right missie?"

[esmerelda]

Esmerelda watched the exchange between the two males, noting to herself that they couldn't be more different. The boy called Arthur, he was sweet, innocent, kind and pure. Frollo, on the other hand was evil, twisted, manipulative and dangerous. She fixed her eyes on Arthur and smiled softly.

"Yes its true to a certain extent. During our wonderful Festival, I am a dancer, not to oversell myself but one of the finest dancers in France. But the Festival itself, its a time for fun, merriment, laughter and frivolity. These very qualities are ones that make it so unpleasant for the Minister here, he has no concept of anything pleasant."

Her dark eyes turned on Frollo once more, fixing him with a deep stare. Many a man had fallen under her natural spell of beauty but not necessarily by her own doing. "Why, may I ask, would I want you to have thoughts of me, Minister. I would much prefer that you forgot about me and my people altogether, we do you no harm if you let us live our lives. You claim to be a Judge, a Minister of Justice but under your rule my people have no justice, just persecution."

[disneyvillianfan10]

Frollo looked upon the boy first then onto Esmerelda both which seemed to have a bit of anger in their eyes.
"I have no intention of harming your people my dear"said Frollo

[Arthur]

Arthur couldn't quite figure out the deal between this woman called Esmeralda, and this man called Frollo. It was obvious from the way Frollo spoke of her that they both held a deep hatred for one another, something of which the boy wasn't quite accustomed to (except in the case of Merlin and Madam Mim). Sighing, he listened to what the judge had to say in defense of his previous statement. So he thought her a witch because she supposedly cast a spell on him to cause him to lust for her?

The small king was about to respond when Esmeralda cut in, speaking in her own defense. She spoke of being a dancer in something called "The Festival of Fools," which, to Arthur's ears, sounded just silly. Why would anyone want to go about and act as if they hadn't the sense the Good Lord had given them? It took Arthur a moment to realize that this festival was meant to be stupid, and this made the boy want to attend it. They never had festivals like that back in England...or at least, he'd never been to one. All his life, Arthur had spent his time washing dishes and practically kissing Kay and Ector's feet. But that was all over now.

Arthur listened to Esmeralda confront Frollo about the persecution of the gypsies, after which he denied her accusations. Sighing again, he looked at both of them and tried to sort their stories out. "Alright...so Esmeralda is a dancer at this "Festival of Fools," and you, Sir, don't like her because she's a gypsy, so you go and try to say she's a witch. I don't mean to be a stick in the mud, but have you actually seen her engage in Devil worship? Or have you actually seen her casting spells?" These questions were quite valid, especially of the time periods the three were from.

[disneyvillianfan10]

Turning to Arthur he spoke" No I have not actually seen her cast any spells....but...I know from a fact that she has the power to manipulate minds....Frollo said walking towards the door

[Arthur]

Arthur listened to what the old judge had to say. So he'd never seen her cast any spells? This clearly signaled to the boy that there was something more to this than what it really seemed. If Frollo had not once seen Esmeralda doing Lucifer's work, then what substance did his claims have? The answer was--nothing. Arthur raised an eyebrow as the man then claimed she had some sort of ability to manipulate minds.

Merlin knew similar spells, but they were not of the variety Judge Frollo must've been talking about. Arthur couldn't put on a finger on the man's motives. Did he harbor feelings for this gypsy? If he meant she could manipulate minds because she was so beautiful, then the king couldn't argue with him there. Esmeralda was an attractive woman, despite how little Arthur understood about adults and romance and all that; he was only 12 after all. "Well, I'm sorry that you seem to hate this poor woman so much. I hope we meet again!" Arthur said cheerfully as Frollo walked out the church door.

"I HOPE we don't meet again..." he thought to himself. "I can tell I don't like him...now that I think about it, something fishy is going on here, and I intend to find out what."

[esmerelda]

Esmerelda smiled softly at the young boy as Frollo walked towards the door. They had beaten him this time, although it was nothing compared to the madness that was taking hold of the world.

"You see Arthur, Judge Claude Frollo is afraid, afraid of anything that he cannot control. He will never be able to control me and so therefore he is afraid of me. He will do anything he can to turn others against me and my people in a feeble attempt to bend me to his will."

Djali bleated indignantly at Frollo's retreating form as if to stress Esmerelda's point.

[disneyvillianfan10]

Ignoring Esmerelda Frollo walked out the door and slammed the door shut behind him.....he then called his guards to guard every door around the church and then he was gone.
[[Exit Frollo]]