| A Night in the Palace of Justice By Sailor Esmeralda The whip dug into his back for the hundredth time. �That�s enough, I think he�s ready,� a dark, husky voice called. They dropped the heavy form of Phoebus to the ground. The fall sprained his wrist, but he was numb to it, numb to any real pain. All he could feel was hatred, hatred for the man that stood before him, hatred for all that he done, hatred for sentencing the woman he truly loved to death. Frollo had expected a scream, even a tear from all of his victims, but Phoebus wouldn�t give him that pleasure. Frollo would never give up until then. As he lay on the floor, a guard kicked him in the ribs, breaking two of them. �Get up!� he ordered. Phoebus wouldn�t get up; they would have to drag him around if they wanted him to move, he thought. The guard kicked him again, and two more picked him up hastily. �He must be cleaned of the gypsy witch�s spells," Frollo mused for a moment. �Even if it means beating them out of him.� Frollo smiled as the guards drug Phoebus to a separate room. There they threw him to the ground; it was dark and musty. Phoebus smelled the air. The room smelt of blood, dried blood. Phoebus recognized the room as a tourtre arena. A chain with two cuffs hung down from the ceiling. There, Phoebus was chained, his shirt removed and he was turned to face his tormenters. The guards chuckled and confronted him. �Aw, poor, poor Captain. What are you going to do now?!� �Yeah! There�s no way you could get out of this one.� �Say Captain, do you like the taste of blood? No? Well here�s your chance!� The guard punched him in the mouth. �Well how does it taste?� He punched him again and again until Phoebus� lips spilt and a cheekbone cracked. Phoebus had stayed still during the whole beating, not once flinching, or turning his face away. He took it, even wanted the guard to do more. But he stepped down. �My turn now!� A short, stubby guard walked up slowly, and took Phoebus� face in his hand. Phoebus spit blood at him hoping to enrage him. �Now now, Captain there is no need for that. We are only here to help you.� He looked down at Phoebus� chest and patted the tattoo Phoebus had over his heart. �The gypsy pulling at your heartstrings? Here I�ll help you forget her!!!� He jabbed Phoebus in the chest repeatedly. Phoebus could hear and feel his ribs breaking, one by one, but it didn�t matter now; those wounds would heal in time. Phoebus still did not flinch. He kept his ground. Finally the guard stopped, frowning, and walked out of the way of the final guard. He was huge, burly man with a large scar on his left cheek. �I hate bastards like you. You think you can take the pain? You have no idea what pain is! I�ll show you how real of a man you are!� Phoebus saw something flash on the ground and realized what Frollo had in store for him. The man was wearing a boot with a metal tip, most likely made of lead. The guards started laughing at the sight of Phoebus� scared face. The burly guard just smiled. �I hope you have prayed, because only God can save you now.� With one swift kick, he hit Phoebus in the groin with force of a horse kicking an enemy back. It was too much for Phoebus; he let out a blood-curdling scream and fell silent. His world started to spin and then turned black. Only remembering the sinister laugh from the darkness... �...us? ...ebus? Phoebus? Phoebus, can you hear me?� His eyes slowly opened but all he could see was black. He closed them again, hoping it would go away. �Phoebus, please wake up.� He heard the voice, it sounded familiar this feminine but rough voice. He couldn�t remember whom the beautiful voice belonged too. He opened his eyes again to see a silhouette of someone. �Phoebus? Can you see me?� �No...� he mumbled groggily. �Okay, then just lay down a moment.� Phoebus grew more and more curious as to whom this person was. �Here, I�ll put this over your eyes for five minutes and then we�ll see if you can see. Okay?� �Fine,� he muttered. The mystery woman put an icy, cold cloth over his eyes. It felt good to Phoebus, a way to numb the pain he was feeling in his heart. �There now,� the woman took off the cloth, �can you see me now?� Phoebus squinted in the dim light and sighed. �Esmeralda? Is that you?� �Oh thank God you�re alright! I heard what Frollo did to you, that bastard.� Esmeralda almost growled. Phoebus chuckled, but fell into a fit of coughs, he had forgotten about the broken ribs. �Phoebus, you shouldn�t do that! You could kill yourself! Just rest for now. I am going to take care of your wounds. Okay?� Phoebus just nodded and fell into a troubled sleep. He dreamt of the next day, of Esmeralda burning to cinders. In his dream, he was holding her ashes, almost as if they would come back in her form. Frollo had ordered Phoebus� beheading in his dream. He could see the horror of the people�s faces. Phoebus awoke from his horrible nightmare. He felt cold metal against his back. Frollo had everyone placed in carts. The gypsies were crammed into three carts and him all by himself. Quasimodo was tied up in the Notre Dame, or so he overheard the guards saying. But where was Esmeralda? A small wooden cart rolled by the gypsies and Phoebus, and inside was Esmeralda. So it had begun, Phoebus thought, his nightmares were to come true. The End Back to Fanfic Back to Index |