| "Secrets Revealed" Chapter 5 By Erin Hours passed before the early morning turned into mid-afternoon and Phoebus and Esmeralda soon found themselves back in the familiar town of Notre Dame, Paris. The carriage driver deposited the duo off on the steps of Notre Dame Cathedral as they had requested, each grabbing the one bag of clothing they had brought with them to Phoebus' families house. Gazing up at the magnificant church, Esmeralda sighed heavily as she realized that now was the time to face their dear friend. Sensing Phoebus standing behind her now, and hearing the carriage driver leave, the beautiful gypsy turned around and asked, "Are you ready?" He was about to tell her 'yes', but suddenly just shook his head and replied simply, "No." With a sigh, the former soldier grasped Esmeralda's hand in his own and the couple slowly walked up the steps. Usually when they walked up the steps to this place, they always felt a sense of peace and the feeling of God's presence when they entered. But now...now was different. They didn't know what to expect once the truth was revealed, and Phoebus could just hope and pray that his friend, his cousin, would be able to forgive him if he felt betrayed. ***** Quasimodo rarely went into any other part of the Cathedral other then the belltower, of course; even though he was free to do so now, he just never felt the need to go into the Sanctuary and pray when he could do that high up above. Anyways, Frollo had told him in the past that he could never show his face to those downstairs either, and even after his death, the bellringer found it hard sometimes to go downstairs. When he left to go outside to meet his friends, he always took the easiest way down, and that was down the side of the Cathedral from the belltower. Now, however, the red-haired young man knelt down along with the handfull of worshipers, his blue eyes looking up at the statue of Mary and the baby Jesus. He didn't know what to say right then; this was all so foreign to him. He knew what he wanted to say, and that was to ask to be reunited with any members of his remaining family, wherever they may be. Feeling a few tears welling up in his saddened eyes, the hunchback lowered his eyes and then his head to his folded hands, not even noticing a robed figure walk up behind him and kneel down next to him. It wasn't until the Archdeacon touched his shoulder did Quasimodo look up through slightly blurred vision. Silent communication passed between the two as the Archdeacon nodded his head reassuringly and wrapped a gentle arm around Quasimodo's deformed shoulders, urging him to say what was on his heart. Right at that moment was when the heavy doors opened to the Cathedral and two more figures walked in, unknown to the praying members of the church. Just like every time they entered the beautiful church with the stained glass windows, the view took Esmeralda and Phoebus' breath away, despite the nervousness they both felt. The two were silent for a few short minutes as they set their small bags on the floor next to the double doors, just taking in the beauty of it all over again. Esmeralda finally broke the silence, keeping her voice soft, "Let's do this, Phoebus." Breaking out of the trance he was in, the handsome captain nodded his head, "Do you think he's still up there, or maybe out and about in the city?" "He's most likely upstairs, Phoebus, don't you think?" Esmeralda replied as the two entered deeper into the church, the gypsy's green eyes slowly wondering to the prayers off to the side. A tender smile crossed her face as she recalled the first time she had stepped foot in this place and had seen many church members praying to their God. She was about to open her mouth to say something else when a certain figure kneeling with the group caught her eye; it was obvious to her who exactly it was and she observed as the Archdeacon rose to his feet along with Quasimodo, embracing him comfortingly. Tears formed in Esmeralda's eyes and slipped down her cheeks as she watched her best friend silently. Glancing over at Phoebus to see if he noticed him as well, and seeing that he did, Esmeralda took a step closer to him until she was right behind him. Not wanting to startle him, the gypsy girl rested her hands gently on his shoulders and leaned into his ear, "Hey there, Quasi." Eyes widening at the sound of the familiar voice he knew all too well, Quasimodo quickly wiped away any traces of tears on his face and turned around to face his friend, noticing that Phoebus was right behind her, "Esmeralda!" He cried as she wrapped her arms around him in a warm hug. He still shivered slightly whenever she hugged or touched him, but it didn't stop him from wrapping his arms around her thin waist in return and hug her gently back, not wanting to crush her with his strong arms, "Esmeralda, what are you doing back so early?" The gypsy ran her fingers through her friend's red hair slowly before releasing him, "Some things came up that called for us to return a few days earler." "Must have been something important," Quasimodo commented, turning to see that Phoebus looked incredibly nervous all of a sudden, although a smile did appear on the captain's features. "Hi there, my friend," He quietly greeted his friend, wrapping his arms tightly around him and hugging him, "We were expecting to find you upstairs, not down here." His face turned sad all of a sudden and Quasimodo lowered his head, pulled away from his friend and looked down at his feet, "I, um, I had some things I needed to do. You two know I rarely ever go down here, but today...today, um, I just felt that urge, you know?" "What kind of urge?" Phoebus asked in the same quiet voice. Noticing that her dear friend didn't really feel like discussing what he was praying about with the Archdeacon, Esmeralda touched Phoebus' hand and gave him a quick look that said it all, "Tell him now." She glanced at her best friend, and seeing that he still wasn't looking at them, she turned back to her fiance, who's eyes widened. "Now?" He mouthed, and Esmeralda nodded, releasing his hand. Phoebus gulped, suddenly feeling nervous all over again. Now that the time had come, he almost forgot how he was going to break this to Quasimodo. He shot another look over at Esmeralda and seeing her impatience, the ex-soldier sucked in a sharp breath and finally opened his mouth, "Quasi?" Quasimodo soon realized he was being spoken to and jerked his head up, looking up at his his two friends, "Huh?" Meeting his cousin's eyes steadily, Phoebus bravely continued, "I need to speak with you for a bit, if that's all right, Quasi." Forcing a chuckle, the bellringer replied, "Of course it's all right. You coming with us, Esmeralda?" Before the gypsy could say anything, Phoebus replied instead, "Actually, I need to speak with you alone," He forced a smile on his handsome face as he turned to his fiance, "I'll meet you back at the Court in a while, Es." Relieved that Phoebus had answered for her, Esmeralda smiled slightly back and kissed his cheek, "All right." Before turning back around and leaving the Cathedral, the dark-haired gypsy leaned over and embraced Quasimodo tightly once more, "I'll see you both in a while." Without waiting for a reply from either of her two favorite people, she turned around, leaving Phoebus and Quasimodo still standing near the small group of worshipers. His brow now furrowing, Quasimodo turned to look up at his friend, "You two are suddenly acting really weird. Is something wrong?" Phoebus raised both eyebrows slightly as he contemplated how to reply. Yes, in a way, something was wrong; but whether or not his friend would think of it that way was something else, "Well, no, not really, but...as I said, there's something I just need to talk with you about." Deciding it was best to take a seat, especially Quasimodo, as he explained this twisted story to him, Phoebus moved towards one of the rows of empty seats and sat down, nodding for his friend to take a seat next to him. As Quasimodo did so, the bellringer's eyes grew worried and his brow furrowed again as he saw how pale Phoebus looked right then, "Something's wrong...I know it. You don't get that pale for no reason at all..." Sighing heavily, the blonde captain knew that he couldn't keep this from him any longer and the best thing to do was just say it, no matter how difficult, "Quasi, the reason why I want to talk to you...it actually has alot to do with why Esmeralda and I are home early." "You're home early because you wanted to talk to me?" Quasimodo was growing more and more confused. "Buddy, while I was at my families' house, I was told something and I knew I couldn't keep it from you," Phoebus began, "It was actually something that I wish I was told a long time ago, but my mother had the gal to wait until now to tell me..." "Phoebus, you're starting to scare me," His friend's voice grew worried and the expression in his eyes was hard to read, "Just say it. I'm sure I can handle it." "I sure hope so, my friend," Phoebus whispered, "Quasi, not long after I arrived, my mother pulled me aside and confided in me a secret about one of my family members. My aunt, actually, who died 21 years ago..." At that last sentence, Phoebus watched as Quasimodo's eyes opened even wider and he continued, "I didn't understand why she was telling me a story about one of my dead relatives until she mentioned you." "Me?" "Quasi...I don't know how you're going to take this," Phoebus continued, his heart pounding so loudly he thought it would burst out of his chest, "But...the reason why she told me this, is because my aunt that died all those years ago was your mother." Quasimodo was silent as those last few words sunk into his head and he couldn't remember if he was breathing or not as he looked straight into the captain's eyes. What did he just say? Did Phoebus just say that his mother was HIS mother's sister? That would make Phoebus himself... As he slowly put the pieces together of those words, Quasimodo felt himself physically shaking as Phoebus added, "I'm your cousin, Quasi." To be continued... Back to Fanfic Back to Index |