|| 𝓗𝓮𝓪𝓿𝓮𝓷'𝓼 𝓛𝓲𝓰𝓱𝓽 ||

Chapter Fifteen

Warning! - This chapter has scenes which some might find disturbing!

Anya couldn't have gathered her belongings any faster, as she stuffed her clothes and the antique box into her potato bag, she still wore the clothes that Esme had given her but she also threw on her favourite Cape, leaving her hood down for the time being, Anya knew Esme and Uncle Facilier would be upset with her departure but she knew they would understand, as much as she enjoyed visiting her childhood home her heart belonged with Quasi in the Notra Dame, as she put the bag over her shoulders she ran downstairs with a new spring of life in each step, she entered the living room to see Uncle Facilier and Esme chatting, they both stopped as Anya walked in, Anya couldn't stop turning her head around the room, luckily seeing no signs of Coplin, before she could question as to where he had gone Facilier spoke "Dont worry, my disgrace of a son is not here" he said with bitter, not for her but for Coplin, Anya could tell that he was upset, so she went over to him and hugged him, Facilier hugged back "thank you for having me here for this short period of time" Anya said "oh you are most welcome, do promise me Red that when this mess is all over, you will visit?" He questioned her, she nodded yes to him before saying "I promise I will" they both let go off each other, she waved goodbye to him and followed Esme out of the home.

Next to the home was a medium size dog house which was originally used for Djali, but they had put Pooka in there too for shelter, Anya knelt down and called his name, Pooka immediately jumped out of the dog house and into Anya's arms, he licked her face, as she stood up holding him in one arm, Djali had also come out to see what was going on, always staying close to Esme, that is when Esme said "are you ready to leave?" To which Anya nodded yes, Esme then guided Anya down an different path out of the Court of Miracles, they went through an huge pair of oak doors which lead them down an dark path which smelt of rotting vines and damp, she felt the cold stone ground beneath her feet, after a few minutes of walking in darkness Anya saw an glimpse of the moon, she then realised she was at the other side of the cemetery "The Notra Dame is just down this way..." Esme said pointing North down an unpaved road "...this is as far as I dare go, especially with Frollo after my head" Anya nodded in agreement, she didn't want her best friend to get hurt, she put Pooka down for a second "Esme, I do apologise for nearly ruining our friendship, I just read things wrongly, I hurt you and Quasi, can you forgive me?" Anya said quilt stricken, Esme walked over to Anya and hugged her "you have nothing to be forgiven for, just go and sort it out with Quasi" Anya promised she would as she grabbed Pokka up from the floor and ran back into the familiar streets of Paris.

As she started her journey back home an feeling of unease set in her, as she walked through the deadly silent streets, she smelt burning wood, the streets were covered in ash which stained her feet black as she walked, near enough all of the houses she had passed were just a shell of what they used to be or had complete burned to the ground, what made her gasp in horror was that in some of the house which had burned down to a crisp, Anya could see the skeletal corpses of the residents of the homes, some were bunched up into a group like they were holding each other before the fire consumed their bodies, or some laid on the ground, she not only saw the skeletal remains of men and women but also children, Anya couldn't stop the tears following down her face, what did the children ever do to deserve such a horrific end? Just then Pooka started to whimper in fear, she stroked him and cooed to him "it's okay Pooka, we will be home soon, Anya hurried faster to her home, she didn't want to be in the darkness much more, the only place she wanted to be right now was in Quasi's arms, as she ran back to the middle of the city, she saw the familiar building of the Notra Dame "she then whispered to Pooka "welcome home Pooka".

As she entered the familiar building, she immediately ran up the tower steps which lead to Quasi's chambers, she could feel her heart racing as she came closer, as she opened the doors she screamed his name "Quasi?!" but heard nothing, she shouted again "Quasimodo?!" but still nothing, she was about to check the bells when she noticed Quasi's wooden replica, she put Pooka down as she went closer to the table, his wooden carvings smashed into pieces all over the floor, his stool that he usually sat on turned topsy turvy, Anya's mind was racing, panic started to settle uncomfortably in her, just then Pooka barked, Anya knelt down next to Pooka to see the wooden carving of Esme ruined, it had been burned severally, it was unrepairable "what the hell happened whilst I was gone?" Anya questioned to herself, she hoped that Quasi was safe but before she could go exploring anymore she heard something happening below, as she walked over to the edge she saw that it was night time, but she saw five steel cages with at least a dozen of gypsies in and trailing behind them were two guards dragging a man by his arms, she looked closer and gasped in horror "Quasi... oh no..." she said, she watched with horror as Quasi was dragged back into Notra Dame, without a moment's thought she grabbed the stool, broke off one of the legs and hid in the shadows.