Chapter Text
It was a seemingly normal day in Notre Dame. Silence echoing through the halls, daily prayers being read, stained glass pictures of all such scenes in the bible having color reflected on the wall from the sun, and the Minister of Justice walking through a hallway to the bell tower..
Everything was going as usual, nothing much, a simple girl going through the giant church, searching for a place to pray in solitude, away from everyone.
She was walking towards a solitude room- one that only very few came to see, and those who dared to enter were the following: The Bell Ringer, the Priests that worked there, the Archdeacon, and the Minister of Justice. All with different reasons, yet, none entered that place as often as she did..*
You see– this child didn’t have a name– most people called her a random name, and she would accept it as her own for the time being, so she was nameless(as far as she knew, her parents died before giving her an official one..)*
So she walked.. And eventually walked to a hallway that went in 4 directions– including the one she was in.*
She saw the.. ‘Judge’ as they called him– walking down the hallway right in front of her, towards the Belltower.*
… Odd. . . he usually went there, but she hadn’t questioned it before, and nor did she follow him..*
So why not do it now?
Quietly, she followed him– making sure that she followed the exact rhythm of his footsteps, just so she wouldn’t be caught.. Wait- what was she even–*
Before she could process what she had done, the Judge was going up the stairs, with her following soon after..*
At the very top, there was a door, one that she hadn’t seen before because she had never bothered to look inside the belltower- nonetheless- actually go up the flight of stairs.*
*Creakk*
. . . Oh dear heavens..
She had seen worse, much worse than this, but she felt both sorry and hope for the man, sorry that he had been up here for who-knows-how long, and hope that maybe he might leave this place and have a good rest of his life..
..But she didn’t have time to think about that for long- for the Judge went to the bellringer and.. A small talk went between the two.
Br: "O-Oh.. Master-”
J: “Did I order you to speak, Quasimodo?”
..So that’s the Bellringer’s name.. Unique, she thought.
Realizing that she didn’t move from the door to hide, she silently walked over to two bookshelves and hid between them.
The conversation went on, somehow it went to the two first people on earth: Adam and Eve..
J: “You remember what happened in the garden of Eden, Quasi?”
Q: “A s-snake gave Eve an apple of knowledge– and then she g-gave the apple to Adam?”
J: “..You’re correct, Quasi.. Now, who do we blame for the cause of all sin?”
Q: “Lucifer?-”
J: “..Yes, but who took the apple?”
Q: “Eve..”
J: “Therefore, women are the root of th-”
Q: “The root?-- But what about the cause, M-Master?”
J: “.. That is a different subject, Quasi.”
.. The judge was blaming the woman– the very woman who was the mother to all of mankind?. .
How.. idiotic of the Minister of Justice. . .- no,no.. She’s just a mere child- she can’t do anything, can she..?
..Soon, the conversation of the bible between Quasi(As she now knew him) and the Minister of Justice, went on for some time before the Judge left..
*Creakk*
The door closed, but she realized that she had forgotten to get out of the room-.. She could dart out, but that would attract Quasi’s attention– ..She just didn’t want attention to be put on her..*
. . . She had a few choices- some didn’t seem as.. Pleasant as others..
But she felt the need to make one fast, and so she did, quickly and swiftly getting out of there, running down the stairs back to the Notre Dame hallways..
And this time, she actually went to the room secluded from everything else..
There were familiar stained glasses, most of them were angels that represented different things.. One was creation, one was Justice.. You get the idea, this room was abandoned because the Minister of Justice (apparently) didn’t want people to worship any other being than god..
But there was one she prayed to often: The Angel of Hope
You see– this angel, while never mentioned in the Bible– was part of some of the stories in it– mainly those about redemption that were put in by Jesus’s disciples later on.. Same goes for the other angels, they were part of many different stories that Jesus told to his disciples, but they weren’t always able to write it all down, so some of their origins were lost to history.. Some were made before they died, some made by the ones that lived until they died a natural death.. Just a brief history, really.
…She lowered her head, put her hands together near her face, and began to silently pray:
“Oh Angel o’ Hope, I hope that Quasimodo may escape his.. Predicament where he is kept in solitude by the Minister of Justice. Amen.”
..It wasn’t much, but it was something she hoped would happen- or could happen at all.
She turned her head- seeing–
?: “(The..Minister of..Justice?)”
But he heard that, and ran.
She shouldn’t have, and I mean really shouldn’t have ran after The one and only Minister of Justice– she never bothered to know his name, mainly because that would make people think she was part of the church and knew her personally- (She is a member of the church, but is just a follower and just.. Didn’t want to be associated with that man’s sins…) Yet she decided to follow that man out of curiosity..
Spoilers: That was a HUGE MISTAKE.
She quietly followed the old man to his own office.. (Luckily she wasn’t noticed at all.. She felt like this was probably going against one of god’s rules.. But she hoped that she wouldn’t be executed..)
J: “...She was praying to an angel- not to god.. How dare she. . .”
..That’s gonna get her killed.. Welp, it was nice being here-
She runs, quicker than ever, attempting to make a run out of the church in time so the Judge wouldn’t notice..
Only to end up making noise, and the Judge giving chase.. She knew she was as good as dead.. But she could find a place to hide, right?
So she went and hid in that old room where nobody really went anymore.. Unluckily, the Judge got there.. So she hid in a corner- like the coward she was..
..The Judge found her quickly, and they both stared at each other in silence before he then dragged the child into a walk up to his office. She knew that she was in.. a life or death situation– one where the judge was the one who would either spare her or execute her..
(Ooc rq, the priests and other guys are just walking around and watching in horror or amusement, and some are still inside rooms where they recite bible verses I think)
..Well.. she never thought that much about death.. Except for now, considering–
And they’re at the Archdeacon’s office. . . (Hopefully she won’t die-)
She decided to merely follow along, however, she made a plan in her mind to run or cause a scene if needed..
AD: “..What is the issue, Claude Frollo?”
C: “This child prayed to an angel instead of the lord, as said in-”
Ad: “..What? To what angel?”
C: “..I’m not sure-”
Ad: “..Then as such, it shouldn’t concern me, nor you, so leave the poor child alone, will you?”
C: “..Understood, Archdeacon.”
..That was quick, too quick.. Better run-
And off she went.
Bolting like a rabbit– she ran quickly- in a blurr.. Frollo nor the Archdeacon were able to catch her in time– so she finally made it out of there, and ran into the streets– Unsure where to go, unsure if she would even find a good place to hide or stay– but nonetheless, she could make it..*
..So she found an empty alleyway, not doing much, merely sitting there and trying to distract herself from what had happened– she ran away, and two very important people might try to kill her- Frollo in particular..
..Now that she thought about it– she had rarely slept outside of Notre Dame- mainly sleeping on one of the benches.. Random every time so that no imprint could be left in the wood other than those who sat there… darn, was she clever enough to almost be possibly called a ‘witch’, but she never got to that point, luckily..
Clip-Clop,Clip-Clop, Clip-Clop– the sound getting ever louder, getting ever nearer.. She knew she was probably going to not be in a good place-
..Pray with your life– to the angel of protection or god himself– (Probably god.. Only silently, though-)
..Here goes nothing. . .
“O’ Lord, I pray to thee for Protection against Claude Frollo- for I am unsure of his intentions, and unsure if he will harm me, Amen..”
And with that–
*yoinked*
..Oh, well.. Hopefully the prayer helps her not die..
… She decides to look at her surroundings– seeing only blurs of motion due to the horse’s speed, however she could make out some Gypsies, knowing that Frollo might kill them if they were found, she decided to give them the “Run away!” look.. And just as suddenly as she saw them, they were nothing but a blur as the horse sped past them.
..For all she cared, Frollo was probably going to drag her back to the church, or maybe execute her, she didn’t.. Want to die either way, but she accepted her fate as is- even though it might be bad, she doesn’t care..
So, knowing that, she says nothing to the person on the horse.. Not even daring to look at them.
She heard the bells ring, the ones of Notre Dame.. she knows who rings them now, she always.. Thought that when those bells rang, they would serve justice to someone who committed sin, whether it be death, or just punishment.. Hopefully, she could get out of here-
She turned her head left- saw a dog- and was promptly thrown off the horse-
Her head hit the pavement, and she blacked out.
. . . ‘Mother..?’
‘. . .’
‘Mom..? I missed you- please… say something to me-’
‘...I was going to name you ‘Laura’..now that I think about it..’
‘..?’
‘I think I’ll name you..’Vespera’... how does that sound, dear..?’
‘...That sounds nice..’
‘. . .’
‘What’s wrong, mom?’
‘..My child.. I am not sure if you can.. But- would you be able to redeem the Judge…?’
‘W-Why, mother?! He-He’s killed so many people–’
‘..I am aware of that, yes.. But.. it’s a favor from an old friend of mine..’
‘. . . if you say so, mom.. Then I'll try my best.’
‘..bye, sweetie..’
‘Bye, mom..!’
And just like that, Vespera -a name she now would be known by- woke up to a terrier dog licking her face.