"Seize the cathedral!" cried Frollo. Nakoma's blood ran hot.
"He can't do that!"
"He can do whatever he wants," Phoebus replied, gesturing towards the pyre. "As he's already demonstrated. But at least now he'll have to fight for it."
They both jumped as a huge beam came hurtling down and crashed to the ground near the main doors of the cathedral, scattering the guards.
"Temper, temper," Phoebus said, looking up toward the belltower with a grin.
"You men!" Frollo yelled, pointing at the guards near their cage. "Pick up that beam! Break down the door!"
As the guards hurried to obey Frollo, Phoebus rubbed his hands together and chuckled, strolling up to the remaining guard and pulling him into a headlock.
"Alone at last," he remarked, striking him squarely on the top of his head. The man slipped to the ground and Phoebus turned around triumphantly, dangling the keys in Nakoma's face. "Lookee what I've got!"
"Great!" Nakoma said. Phoebus quickly unlocked their cage and handed the keys to Nakoma.
"Think you can handle yourself?" he asked. She nodded, and Phoebus chuckled. "Don't worry, you'll have all of Paris on your side. Watch this."
He leapt onto the top of their cage and addressed the shouting crowd. As he spoke Nakoma hurried to unlock the cages of the gypsies, dodging guards as she did so.
"Citizens of Paris!" Phoebus shouted. "Frollo has persecuted our people, ransacked our city! Now he has declared war on Notre Dame herself! Will we allow it?"
"No!!" the citizens roared, and soon Nakoma found herself aided by the hammers and axes of the townsfolk as they struck at the locks on the cages to free the gypsies. Within a moment or two all of the gypsies were freed and joined the crowds advancing on the door and the soldiers trying to break it down. Nakoma smiled at their handiwork, then had to duck and run as a guard swung his sword at her head.
"Good thing I still remember how to run," she remarked to herself, twisting and turning and leaping over upturned carts toward the cathedral. "Now how do I find Quasimodo?" She had to help him, and Esmeralda too. She had looked unconscious when Quasi rescued her—there was a good chance she might have inhaled too much smoke. But with Frollo and the guards at the doors, how could she get inside? There are other doors, she recalled, and maybe...just maybe, the archdeacon would give me sanctuary.
She veered away from the brawl at the main doors and ran to the side where smaller doors stood unassaulted. She ran up the steps and pounded on the door. "Sanctuary!" she cried. "Sanctuary!" She frantically looked around her, but no one was paying her any attention, all too distracted by the battle. She continued to pound. "Sanctuary!" She could hear nothing over the clang of metal on metal and the shouts of the townspeople and gypsies, all a monotonous roar on top of the steady 'boom' of the battering ram on the door. Every so often some new object would come toppling down from the belltower, sending the guards running. As moments passed her heart began to pound. She looked up, around, searching for any window or ledge that she could climb. "How—"
Suddenly a small crack appeared between the door and its frame, and she saw the archdeacon's widened eyes peering anxiously out at her.
"Please, let me in!" she begged breathlessly. "I have to help Quasimodo! Hurry, before someone sees the door is open!"
The archdeacon stood aside as she slipped inside, then slammed the board back into the lock and hurried her away from the door.
"What on earth is going on?" he demanded.
"Frollo wants Esmeralda back," Nakoma explained. From within the walls the din was muted, but the noise of the battering ram echoed ominously from the vaulted ceilings. They hurried through the doorway to the steps and closed the door behind them. "He was going to burn her at the stake, but Quasimodo saved her and brought her into the cathedral. He claimed sanctuary."
"Frollo never cared about the sanctity of the cathedral," the archdeacon grumbled. "This proves it beyond a shadow of a doubt."
"I have to find Quasi and help him," Nakoma said. "Esmeralda could be ill from the smoke." A loud, tearing crack resounded from the doors; Nakoma looked frantically at the archdeacon, whose wide eyes narrowed in holy rage.
"Do what you can," he told her. "I wish I could help you, but I do not know where they are. I have to protect the cathedral." He made for the door.
"But Frollo will hurt you," said Nakoma. He looked back at her solemnly.
"I must do the will of God and protect His house. That is my duty." He turned back towards her and made the sign of the cross over her, whispering a short blessing in Latin. "May God protect you, my child. I must go now."
He turned and marched through the door; Nakoma, peeking out, saw Frollo climbing through a hole in the door and retreated with a gasp back into the stairwell. She made the sign of the cross and dashed up the stairs. "Please keep him safe, O Lord," she prayed as she ran. "And Esmeralda, too."
She heard footsteps behind her and knew they were Frollo's. Ducking into an impression on the wall of the stairwell, she prayed he'd be too intent on his task to see her. And then I'll follow him to where they are, she thought. She held her breath as he passed at a run, and then silently slipped out behind him, trailing him to a landing. He stopped at a door, pressing his ear against the wood, and then chuckled softly, pulling a dagger from his robes. Nakoma tried to stifle the pang of sharp panic piercing her heart and instinctively put a hand over her mouth. He opened the door confidently and strode inside; creeping in behind him, she stayed in the shadows, looking for an opportunity to intervene. Quasi knelt beside a still unconscious Esmeralda, his shoulders shaking with sobs. Another wave of panic and grief washed through Nakoma. Oh, no.
Frollo laid a hand on Quasi's back. Quasi stiffened.
"You killed her," he whispered.
"It was my duty," Frollo replied softly, "horrible as it was. I hope you can forgive me." Quasi dissolved into sobs once more. "There, there, Quasimodo, I know it hurts. But now, the time has come to end your suffering." Frollo raised the dagger above Quasi's head. "Forever."
"No!" Nakoma shrieked, leaping to her feet. Quasi and Frollo both turned; Nakoma collided with Frollo, tearing at him to get to the dagger, but he swung the dagger at her, slicing her arm as he used his other hand to shove her onto the floor.
"Stay out of this, gypsy!" he snarled, and then fell backwards with a yell, the dagger clattering out of his reach as Quasi yanked him down from behind. Quasi went for the dagger but Frollo reached it first and bore down on him. Quasi caught his wrist in an iron grip and the two remained deadlocked, grunting with the strain of holding each other back. Come on, Quasi! Nakoma pleaded, grimacing with the pain of her wound. You're the only one who can defeat him!
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Quasi's weakness lay in his utter shock. His master had killed Esmeralda and now he was trying to kill him! Why? He pleaded silently, his eyes filling with tears. What have I ever done to make you hate me so? You said you were my only friend...He looked into his master's hate-filled eyes and saw only rage, no love. Hellfire seemed reflected in those eyes, hellfire that had extinguished heaven's light. That's not how it's supposed to work, he thought bitterly. He looked back at Nakoma, lying wounded on the floor, but her eyes were wide and vibrant with hope. There is still light left in this world, he thought, and his doubts were suddenly banished by the light he'd seen in her eyes. For her, for all the light left, I have to fight, or he'll put it all out. He furrowed his brow and with a surge of courage tossed Frollo aside, pulling the dagger out of his hand. A fierce rage surged through him, and he began to advance on Frollo, the dagger in his hands shaking as he saw the fear in his master's eyes.
"Now, now, listen to me, Quasimodo," Frollo said softly. The sudden gentleness in Frollo's voice caught Quasi off guard, and he paused, his murderous fury dissolving. Quasi didn't want to kill him. He didn't want to be filled with hate and hellfire like him.
"No, you listen!" Quasi shouted. "All my life you have told me the world is a dark, cruel place. But now," he said, looking with disgust at the dagger as he tossed it aside, "I see that the only thing dark and cruel about it is people like you!"
"Quasimodo?" Quasi turned; Nakoma hurried to shush Esmeralda, who was sitting up on the pallet.
"Esmeralda!" Quasi ran to her and lifted Esmeralda from the pallet, his heart overflowing with relief. "Esmeralda, you're alive!"
"Quasi, look out!" Nakoma cried. Quasi turned and leapt aside just as Frollo brought a sword hurtling down towards Esmeralda's neck.
"No!" he shouted. Frollo strode after them but his eyes widened and he stopped short as Nakoma plunged a sword through his robes with a loud rip and wedged the blade into the wood of the floor. Her eyes were filled with a burning light, and as she looked at Quasi the light burned brighter.
"Go!" she shouted. 'Now! Take her and go!"
Quasi saw the rage in Frollo's eyes as he struggled to get free. He saw the fierce light in Nakoma's eyes, and looking down he saw Esmeralda's light, barely a flicker, so weak. What do I do?
"I—I can't leave you in here!" Quasi said.
"You have to!" Frollo's robes tore with a sickening sound around the blade holding them to the floor as he pulled against it. She pulled another blade from the wall and pinned his robes again. "There's no time! Go!"
"But..." Quasi's heart felt ready to burst. His eyes misted over. "I think..." Esmeralda shifted in his arms and put a gentle hand on his chest.
"Tell her," she whispered, and then dissolved into coughing. "Before it's too late."
Quasi looked into Nakoma's burning eyes and knew he would find the courage there to tell her.
"I love you," he said softly. Nakoma's eyes darkened, just for a moment, and she looked away. Quasi's heart sank, but she suddenly looked back at him, and her whole face was shining with heaven's light.
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"Enough of this nonsense!" Frollo snarled, wrenching himself free of the blades with a growl.
"Go, Quasi!" Nakoma cried, catching the ragged ends of Frollo's robes and pulling as hard as she could. Quasi, after a split-second of deliberation, finally obeyed, just as Frollo's blade came swinging toward her wrists. She let go of his robes, dashing after him as he ran out onto the balconies, brandishing his sword and looking all around. She leapt up onto the railing; he glanced at her and snarled,
"Stay out of my way, gypsy." But as he turned to the right she jumped down in front of him. He stopped too late and hit the floor with a thud, his blade clattering away. She scrambled to reach it first but he knocked her out of the way, sending her sliding off the balcony. She clung to the edge and hauled herself back up in time to see Frollo hurrying off around a corner. She followed him frantically until she caught a glimmer of white down below the railing and stopped.
"Quasi?" She peeked down and sure enough, there he was, dangling from a gargoyle with one hand while Esmeralda hung over his shoulder.
"Nakoma!" Quasi beamed. "You're alright!"
"Yes, but what about you?"
"Oh, we're alright," Quasi assured her. "Quick, out here, before he finds us!"
"You mean, on the ledge?" Nakoma shivered at the thought of dangling hundreds of feet from the ground, which she could now see was covered in fiery liquid.
"Yes, hurry!" Quasi reached up to take her hand, but suddenly looked past her, his breath catching raggedly in his throat. Nakoma knew what he saw a split-second before she was jerked to her feet and tossed against the wall. The bricks scraped at her arms and the back of her head as she slid down to the floor, where she struggled to catch her breath. Not good.
"Leaving so soon?" he hissed at her, and then leaned out over the balcony, striking at Quasi and Esmeralda with his sword. Nakoma could hear the horrible clang of the blade as it bounced off stone.
"Hang on!" Nakoma heard Quasi call. She got to her feet with some effort and followed the sound of his voice, stopping at a ledge sporting a gargoyle statue. Quasi saw her and hoisted Esmeralda up; Nakoma pulled with all her strength until Esmeralda was safely on the ledge. They heard a snarl and gasped as Frollo charged at them with the sword.
"Quick! Down here!" Esmeralda pulled Nakoma down beneath the statue just as the sword came crashing down on its head. They rolled out of the way, Nakoma pulling Esmeralda to the side.
"Are you alright?" she asked. Esmeralda pushed up on her stomach and coughed.
"I'm fine," she said.
"I should have known you'd risk your life to save those gypsy witches," Frollo snarled at Quasi, who was standing atop the gargoyle on the ledge, heaving and gasping for breath. "Just as your own mother died trying to save you."
Esmeralda and Nakoma gaped in horror at each other. A monster...and a murderer!
"What?" Quasi stopped breathing.
"Now," said Frollo with a feigned bow and a wicked smile, "I'm going to do what I should have done." The crazed rage returned to his features. "Twenty years ago!" Frollo threw his cloak over Quasi's head; Quasi grasped at it, trying desperately to throw it off.
"Quasi!" Esmeralda cried. Nakoma and Esmeralda stood and rushed to the ledge, but Frollo yanked on the robe, sending Quasi toppling over the side of the building. "No!" Quasi caught hold of the end of Frollo's robe and slammed into the side of the building, and suddenly Frollo gasped as he, too, tumbled over the railing.
"Oh, no!" Nakoma groaned. Now Frollo was dangling from Quasi's grasp by the end of his robes. As Quasi's grip began to slip, they rushed over and grabbed onto his arm, both straining to hold him up.
"Hold on!" Esmeralda pleaded.
"We've got you!" said Nakoma.
Frollo's panicked gaze landed on a nearby gargoyle, and he swung on the robe until he reached it and clambered up, raising his sword over their heads with a threatening laugh. The girls glanced over fearfully, unable to move.
"Three birds with one stone, I see," Frollo snarled. "And He shall smite the wicked, and plunge them into the fiery pit!" The gargoyle beneath his feet began to crack, and he threw his sword down in a panic and clung to the stone for dear life. To their horror, the gargoyle opened its mouth in vengeance and let out a terrible roar. Frollo screamed, and as the gargoyle broke away from the building he fell to his doom.
Hellfire.