IT IS TIME, Y'ALL! THE PYRE! HERE YOU GO:))) P.S. I do not own any music or pictures in this chapter. Enjoy!
In the bowels of Frollo's dungeons, a young boy dressed in rags leans against the wall of the moldy cell he is imprisoned in, staring out the small, barred window he is provided.
The cell is bare, only the window and the bucket in the corner as his companions. The boy is not even afforded a bed, though this means little to him.
The boy stares wistfully out the window and into the silence, begins to sing.
I used to believe
In the days I was naive
That I'd live to see
A day of justice dawn
And though I will die
Long before that morning comes
I'll die while believing still
It will come when I am gone
Someday
When we are wiser
When the world's older
When we have learned
I pray
Someday we may yet live
To live and let live
Someday
Life will be fairer
Need will be rarer
Greed will not pay
Godspeed
This bright millennium
On its way
Let it come someday
Someday
When we are wiser
When the world's older
When we have learned
I pray
Someday we may yet live
To live and let live
There are some days
Black and bitter
It seems we haven't got a prayer
But a prayer for something better
Is the one thing we all share
We all share
We all share
We all share...
Someday
Our fight will be one then
We'll stand in the sun then
That bright afternoon
Till then
On days when the sun is gone
Hope lives on
Wish upon the moon
Change will come
One day...
Someday...
Soon
As Esmeralda finishes his song, a quiet, awed voice speaks up from just outside the cell.
"Esmeralda?"
The boy's head whips around, and there, standing by the bars outside the cell is Kaldur. The teen is watching him with awe and worry in his eyes.
In shock, Esmeralda rushes forward and grips the bars of his cell worriedly. "Kaldur? What are you doing here?"
"I came to get you; you're not staying here." The teen wears a determined expression as he places his hands overtop that of the gypsies.
Esmeralda's eyes are sad as he shakes his head, "you can't."
"I can," Kaldur insists, tightening his grip on the gypsy's hands.
"Kaldur, you can't. If I escape Frollo will never stop looking for me. He'll never stop hurting my people. I have to stay here."
" I can't leave you here. We will help your people, but you have to let me help you first! Please, Esmeralda."
Kaldur leans towards the bars, eyes looking imploringly into beautiful, but sad emerald green.
The two teens jolt when they hear the sound of footsteps approaching.
"It's the guards," Esmeralda says quietly. "Kaldur, you have to go."
Kaldur begins to shake his head, but Esmeralda touches his cheek through the bars, making the protégé meet his eyes.
"Kaldur," he says gently, "go."
As the footsteps get closer, Kaldur softly caresses Esmeralda's hands and places his forehead on the bars.
"We will save you; I promise."
And within one blink and the next, he is gone.
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Third POV (heroes)
The sky is red over the Notre Dame Cathedral, reflecting the horror taking place below.
The townsfolk are all gathered in the square, kept in line by guards carrying spears. The gypsies from the Court of miracles are all held in cages nearby, along with Captain Phoebus. The heroes are hiding in the crowd of townspeople, staring in dread at the atrocity in front of them.
On a tall wooden platform in the center of the square, a large pyre is standing, and tied to this pyre is the gypsy boy Esmeralda.
An executioner drops bundles of hay at the boy's feet as Frollo, carrying a scroll with him, reads aloud.
"The prisoner Esmeralda has been found guilty of the crime of witchcraft," lines of guards beat the drums in the background as Frollo continues to speak. "The sentence: death!"
The crowd yells their objections in outrage and dismay.
"Release him!"
"Let him go!"
"He's just a boy!"
"He is innocent!"
The guards, Frollo, and the executioner remain stoic, and Phoebus shakes the bars of his cage furiously.
The heroes, meanwhile, grit their teeth from within the crowd.
"This is too far; we have to stop this!" Barry yells at Bruce, while the man in question glares up at the judge on the platform.
"Help is coming. Until then, we have to wait."
"Bruce, we can't wait much longer. He's running out of time," Dinah says desperately, watching the young boy tied to the pyre. Oliver places a hand on her shoulder, not taking his eyes off the young teen on the platform.
"They'll get here in time."
They'll have to, goes unsaid.
The adults all keep a strong grip on the four teens' shoulders, just in case.
They watch the archbishop step out of the Cathedral angrily but be blocked from advancing by two guards' spears.
Up on the platform, the executioner hands Frollo a lit torch. The entire crowd seems to hold their breath as the judge approaches Esmeralda.
"The time has come, gypsy. You stand upon the brink of the abyss. Yet even now it is not too late."
The vile judge leans in towards Esmeralda, a demented smile on his face as the terrified boy leans back into the beam he remains tied to. From their spot near the stage, the heroes all clench their fists, hearing every word the judge speaks. Oliver has to keep his grip on Dinah, as the woman looks absolutely murderous.
Much like the rest of her companions.
"I can save you from the flames of this world, and the next. Choose me, or the fire."
The gypsy shocks everyone with what he does next.
Rearing forward as much as he can, the young boy spits right into the judge's face, eliciting a large gasp from the crowd.
Frollo turns back to face the boy, disgusted, only to see the gypsy glaring defiantly.
"Brave boy," Dinah whispers, even as her whole body tenses in fear of the retribution of the judge.
Frollo turns back to address the crowd.
"The gypsy Esmeralda has refused to repent! It is my duty to send this unholy demon back where he belongs!"
Frollo leans forward and touches the torch to the hay of the pyre.
The townspeople erupt in screams, and between the roaring in the heroes' ears, they can hear the sound of their own shouts.
They can't tear their gazes away from Esmeralda, watching how he tries to hide his fear as he watches the fire spread.
(Middle, left picture.)
Aqualad and Robin seem to scream the loudest, and Arthur and Bruce, respectively, reluctantly hold them back.
A loud cry of "NO!" comes from the belltower, along with the sound of the bells ringing and bits of the upper pillars crumbling.
On the pyre, the fire is spreading, and large mounds of smoke obstruct the platform. Within seconds, the fumes are dark and dense, and the heroes watch as Esmeralda starts to cough violently, struggling to get air.
"We have to help him now!" Aqualad and the other protégés try to escape the adults' grips but are unable to.
"Not yet" Bruce grits.
"There's no more time!" Robin yells.
The group looks back up, and watches in fear as Esmeralda slowly slumps, no longer coughing and completely still.
"NO!" The heroes yell, and just as the adults release the protégés to run forward to save the boy themselves, a familiar figure flings down from the Cathedral onto the platform with a rope.
The heroes immediately recognize him. "Quasimodo!"
The crowd cheers as the boy lands on the platform and rips away the ropes holding Esmeralda. Quasimodo brings the unconscious gypsy into his arms and rips a log from the pyre to throw at the guards, knocking them off the platform.
Quasimodo then grabs the rope as it swings back around and jumps, letting it pull him back to the Cathedral and scaling the large church skillfully, all the way to the top ledge.
He stands on the top, and lifts Esmeralda carefully over his head. In the full view of the crowd, he then yells.
"SANCTUARY!" The crowd echoes him in cheers as he repeats. "SANCTUARY!!!" And one more time, the loudest, "SANCTUARY!!!"
The hunchback disappears for a moment, at which time Frollo orders his men to seize the Cathedral. Moments later, Quasimodo returns, and he is alone. The next thing everyone knows, Frollo's guards are scattering as debris and large beams of wood fall from the church.
The heroes waste no time, pushing through the crowd to the Cathedral to find the young gypsy they've all come to care for.
In the chaos, Phoebus escapes his cage, and climbs atop it to address the townspeople.
"Citizens of Paris! Frollo has persecuted our people, ransacked our city. Now, he has declared war on Notre Dame, herself! Will we allow it?!!"
"NEVER!!!"
The townspeople roar in rage, lifting weapons and metal tools and rushing at Frollo's men.
The cages with the other prisoners are broken open by some of the townsfolk, and the gypsies and villagers work together in fighting Frollo's men.
Suddenly helicopters are there, landing and letting military officers out and into the fray, helping the civilians in fighting off the guards.
The helicopters are led in by a jet with the symbol for Wayne Enterprises, and an old man steps out when it lands, helping some of the injured civilians.
From their location near the Cathedral, searching for a back entrance where the guards are not trying to break in, Bruce smirks. "The cavalry is here."
"About time," Oliver comments.
As the people below fight, rubble, bricks, and lava fall from Notre Dame, Quasimodo and the gargoyles making sure that Frollo and his men stay away.
Unfortunately, as the heroes find a way into the Cathedral through a back passage, they see that Frollo somehow made his way inside as he rushes past the fallen archbishop, locking the door behind him.
The heroes rush to the downed man and help him to his feet.
"Where's Esmeralda?" Bruce asks urgently.
"Quasimodo probably took him to his quarters at the top of the Cathedral, but you'll have to go up those stairs over there. Hurry!"
The group does just that, rushing up the stairs the archbishop directed them to.
The heroes make it to Quasimodo's quarters and follow the sound of yelling to witness Quasimodo tearfully screaming at Frollo, an unmoving Esmeralda on the bed behind him.
"No," Kaldur whispers, the others in similar states of despair.
Until Esmeralda shifts, his head turning weakly and looking at the hunchback.
"Quasimodo," he whispers.
The boy's head turns in shock, and he rushes over. "Esmeralda!" He breathes in relief, along with the heroes.
But the relief doesn't last.
"He lives!" Frollo says madly as he unsheathes a sword.
"NO!" Quasimodo cries, lifting the gypsy into a bridal carry and bolting to the door.
"Go kid!" Oliver yells as he runs at the judge, only to have to dodge to the side as the sword is swung wildly at him.
In the chaos, the judge makes it past the group and chases after Quasimodo and Esmeralda.
"Move!" Bruce yells, and the group runs after them.
The group turns the corner to see Quasimodo hanging over the side of the balcony with one hand, Esmeralda in the other. Both are looking up in horror at Frollo, sword raised and ready to swing.
(I just like this picture, that's why I included it.)
"Barry!" Bruce shouts, but he needn't have. The redheaded man is already there, knocking the sword out of Frollo's grasp and restraining the corrupt judge. Clark and Oliver go to help subdue the man, while the others move to help the two young men hanging onto the balcony.
Bruce leans over the side and reaches out to take a barely conscious Esmeralda. Quasimodo helps lift the boy into the man's arms and back to safety.
Just as Bruce settles the boy against his chest, Quasimodo loses his grip.
"No-!" Esmeralda chokes out, coughing fit starting again as his friend falls. Superboy reaches out immediately but misses by an inch.
Quasimodo falls, and John steps back to quickly phase away and save the boy, before a hand reaches out from a balcony on a lower level and catches him.
The heroes then get a good look, and smile in relief. "It's Phoebus," Dinah breathes, reassured.
Bruce, assured the boy is safe, quickly turns back to Esmeralda. "It's alright, your friend's okay, Phoebus saved him. Breathe, you're alright."
Bruce pulls the boy closer and rubs his back as the boy continues to cough. Dinah, Robin, and Kaldur all kneel by the boy as well, concern showing on their faces. Dinah brushes a gentle hand through the boy's hair, attempting to soothe him.
Bruce adjusts the boy and stands up, holding Esmeralda in his arms. "Help is here; we need to get Esmeralda to the jet on the ground for medical attention. He's suffering from smoke inhalation. Bring him with us," he gestures to the hogtied and gagged Frollo.
The group head back down the stairs hurriedly. From Bruce's side, Kaldur gently holds Esmeralda's hand.
The boy's eyes open slightly, and he gives the Atlantean's hand a weak squeeze.
Kaldur returns it, a bit stronger.
The two hold hands all the way back to the jet.
Whew. Tada! I loved that, but dang, that took me all day. More in store soon, but Arc 1 is officially done! Next chapter will be out in a few weeks, probably.
Love you guys!
Writer-san.