Genesis Chronicorum β1: Hellfire

Chapter 17: Laverne

Claude must've been so drunk to see such apparition in front of him, he held Maria so tight that he forgot to let her go and let her breathe. Once he did so, he looked into her eyes with the saddest frown, and lifeless eyes. "I apologize, I must go." Claude said in the most monotone voice, and decided to follow his mother's shadow, which disappeared to thin air. Claude followed the path to where the figure stood, unaware of possible outcomes, he just wanted to see his mother alive once again.

He was lost at some point, only to see three more silhouettes in front of him, holding hands, they looked familiar to him, the figures led him to the Palace of Justice. Why? He wondered, why lead him back home? His question was answered when a door was revealed to him, it seemed to have led to the dungeon, where his father would keep the wicked and thieves before trial. He remembered he noted himself not to place one foot to that place for he hated the screams of those who were being punished and even grown up he could feel the sorrow and darkness this place had from the poor souls that died there when he was a child.

The figure were slowly disappearing, one by one until the largest led him to what seemed to be an office, a cell and shelter. "Why did you lead me here? What does this all have to do with my mother?" Claude asked himself, looking at his surroundings. He wasn't alone in that room, he felt such darkness and yet such freedom and pain. The three figures appeared once again to reveal three women. No, not women. The smallest was but a teenage girl, the middle one a woman and the tallest was an old lady. All looking at the boy with a smile and the most piercing eyes Claude has ever witnessed, they sent chills up his spine. "I have seen you all three before. Who are you?" Asked Claude as the female figures circled him, they all spoke in a distorted voice, but in unison, it made Claude scared.

"We are those who sought freedom from our sister.  Justice for a soul who did not belong in this world and to live among the corrupted. We have been watching over you Claude Frollo, and your brother too. Damned since the day you were born." They said. Claude was confused by all they said. These were her aunts? He was damned? So many questions to be answered but he made the effort to ask bit by bit.

"Who was my mother before having us? You're witches aren't you? How did my father meet my mother?"

"Laverne was damned from the beginning. There was no more room for her in the cycle of life, she was to live with her magic but as a mortal. The twisted Judge was hunting us and we sold off our dear precious Laverne to him. We regret it every day. He would torture her here and make her a woman of society. He wanted to make sure a witch could be change and make a woman out of her. He succeeded, Laverne was the weakest link in our circle. She had you and your brother in that very cell after their holy matrimony. Laverne's powers were ceasing to exist, so we decided to watch over you three instead."

"My mother, was a Gypsy?" said Claude with a heavy heart and short of breath, knowing and taking all of what the sisters said. His mother was a witch. It was no wonder that Jacque would treat her differently and she would take comfort in helping her kind, liking Maria and Claude enjoying low class life around Notre Dame. He felt very dizzy, light headed, about to faint. He was about to fall, the pit looked deep "Be warned. The sins of the father can be passed to the son. Kill the father before it is too late. Make our Laverne proud."

They disappeared right before their warning and Claude, without an effort fell into a pit full of skeletons. This hurt his head, his back and legs, finally falling into complete darkness and unconsciousness. Was her mother a slave or did she willingly took his father for a better life, friend or foe? Maybe he will never know.