His Angel

Chapter 4 - A New Arrival

Meanwhile, within the city, a man came walking in with his horse. His name was Phoebus. He had shoulder-length blond hair and was gazing down at a map, looking very confused. After trying but failing to figure it out, he gave up and tossed it over shoulder.

"Uh-huh, you leave town for a couple of decades and they change everything." He complained to his horse, who only slightly whinnied at his plight.

His luck seemed to turn around as two guards came his way and he held up an inquiring finger to try and get their attention.

"Excuse me, gentlemen, I'm looking for the Palace of Justice. Would you- " However, his words were completely ignored as they walked past him, not even acknowledging his existence. " -hmmm, I guess not."

He decided to walk on ahead, looking for any other kind of help, when he noticed two gypsies and a goat with an earring dancing for money. Phoebus smiled, watching on with interest as a mother and child walked by. The little girl ran over to the performers but her mother was quick to pull her away.

"Stay away, child. They're gypsies. They'll steal us blind."

One gypsy was a young man playing a tambourine. He had silky black hair, tied out of his face by a bright purple scarf, and the most alluring green eyes to ever belong to a human. He wore a white shirt, that exposed a lot of his chest area, no shoes, and a pair of purple pants. He also had a purple cloth wrapped around his waist.

Phoebus tossed a few gold coins into the hat they were performing around, earning a nod of appreciation from the young man. However, everything stopped as a gypsy boy whistled to them, alerting them of approaching guards. 

Phoebus watched on in confusion as the gypsies stopped their dancing and began to run. However, as the goat grabbed the hat, all the coins scattered out, causing the young man to turn around and collect them. But this came at a price. Two guards stood over him with sneering looks on their faces as they gazed at the gypsy, that glared back up at them.

"All right, gypsy, where'd ya get the money?" One of the guards questioned.

"For your information, I earned it." The man stated strongly as he stood up to leave.

"Gypsies don't earn money."

"They steal it." The other guard claimed, grabbing onto the hat.

"You'd know a lot about stealing!" The man spat, trying to pull the hat back.

"Troublemaker!" The first guard jeered as he grabbed hold of the man.

"Maybe a day in the stocks will cool you down."

But, before they could do anything to the young man, he kicked one guard in the face while the other was head-butted by his goat right in the stomach. They let him go and he and his goat made a break for it.

The guards went to chase after them but Phoebus acted fast. He pulled his horse in front of the guards' path and they rammed into him. One guard fell into a mud puddle while the other fell to the side.

"Achilles! Sit!" Phoebus ordered.

The horse did as it was ordered and sat on top of the one guard, keeping him down on the floor.

"Oh, dear, I'm sorry. Naughty horse, naughty! He's just impossible! Really, I can't take him anywhere." Phoebus pretended to scold the horse, making a bunch of people laugh around him, as he smiled down at the guard.

"Get this thing off me!" The guard begged.

The other guard approached Phoebus, dagger drawn as he threatened, "I'll teach you a lesson, peasant!"

However, Phoebus whipped out his sword, revealing golden armour underneath his cloak, as he playfully asked, "You were saying...Lieutenant?"

"Oh, Captain!" The guard panicked as he saluted only to end up accidentally hitting himself with his dagger. "Ow! At your service, sir!"

"I know you have a lot on your mind right now, but...the Palace of Justice?"

...

"Make way for the captain!"

"Go on, make way!"

The guards were making way for Captain Phoebus, opening up a path for him to walk through. As they walked, he noticed some coins on the ground and picked them up before dropping them in the hat of an old beggar man, sitting on the street.

As he walked away, the hood of the old man's cloak was lowered, revealing it was actually the goat and the young gypsy man. He stared at Phoebus in confusion but soon smiled, warmed by the man's kindness.

...

It didn't take long for Phoebus to arrive at the Palace of Justice and he was escorted into a dark dungeon, where he saw Frollo, standing off to the side as he watched some poor soul get flogged mercilessly.

"Stop!" Frollo ordered the torturer, who came over to listen to Frollo's complaints. "Ease up. Wait between lashes. Otherwise the old sting will dull him to the new."

"Yes, sir."

The torturer went back to his flogging and that was when Frollo turned his attention towards Phoebus.

"Ah, so this is the gallant Captain Phoebus, home from the wars."

"Reporting for duty, as ordered, sir." 

"Your service record precedes you, Phoebus. I expect nothing but the best from a war hero of your calibre." 

"And you shall have it, sir. I guarantee it."

"Yes. You know, my last captain of the guard was...um, a bit of a disappointment to me." Frollo stated just as the sound of a whip cracked in the air followed by a pain-filled scream.

Phoebus jumped slightly at the horrible sound while Frollo merely smirked.

"Well, no matter." Frollo shrugged it off, unfazed. "I'm sure you'll whip my men into shape."

"Uh, thank you. It's a...tremendous honour, sir."

...

Frollo had led Phoebus outside and onto a balcony. It overlooked the city and the festivities that were almost ready to begin.

"You come to Paris in her darkest hour, Captain. It will take a firm hand to save the weak-minded from being so easily misled." Frollo sneered as he gazed down at the people below.

"Misled, sir?"

"Look, Captain. Gypsies." Frollo stated as he gestured to the crowd below. "The gypsies live outside the normal order. Their heathen ways inflame the people's lowest instincts." He paused as he turned to the captain, clenching his fist in anger. "And they must. Be. Stopped."

Phoebus was a little taken aback by the man's words as he questioned, "I was summoned from the wars to capture fortune tellers and palm readers?"

"No, the real war, Captain is what you see before you. For over twenty years, I have been taking care of the gypsies, one-by-one." He emphasised his last three words by squishing three ants under his fingers, that had been crawling along on the stone barrier of the balcony.

"And yet, for all of my success, they have thrived." Frollo lifted one of the stone slabs, revealing many ants underneath. "I believe they have a safe haven, within the walls of this very city. A nest if you will. They call it the Court of Miracles." He scoffed slightly at the name.

"What are we going to do about it, sir?"

Frollo's only answer was a smirk as he took the slab and slammed back into place, crushing all the ants in the process.

"You make your point quite vividly, sir."

"You know, I like you, Captain. Shall we?" Before either of them could go on, the crowd down below began to cheer loudly, signalling that the Festival of Fools was about to begin, making Frollo scowl in disdain. "Duty calls. Have you ever attended a peasant festival, Captain?"

"Not recently, sir."

"Then this should be quite an education for you. Come along."