The Twisted Chain || A Disney Fanfic [discontinued]

12. the bellringer

I want to thank the commenters of last chapter! You guys rock :D - squishyfishies ; brittanyebowen ; xTinkerAmyBellx ; THGDivergentElsa7402 ; SeniorBandGeek ; 31cora ; IcyRoads ; angelarose_612

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I took the glass out of Quasimodo's hand, our fingertips touching for a split second before he let go. I held the cup up to my lips, taking a long sip of water. It felt good on my throat, which was dry and a bit sore- I didn't remember the last thing I'd drank. I took a moment to think- it was probably a shot of alcohol that I'd had at The Moonlit Crow. But that seemed unrealistic. Had I really been on Earth just a day ago? It had seemed like weeks since I'd entered this new world- everything had gone by at such a quick pace. Events that would normally happen during the course of a few days had happened in less than twenty four hours. It was strange, and the thought of it made me feel sick to my stomach, for some odd reason or another.

I set the glass on the nightstand beside me. Quasimodo stood at the edge of the bed, watching me with a look of curiosity, hints of nervousness dotting his expression, as though he were a small child who was frightened of introducing himself to a classmate.

To my surprise, it was Quasimodo who spoke first. "Ivy?"

I looked up. "Hmm?"

"You're... You're not from Paris, are you?" he asked. His voice was a bit cautious, like the hesitant ringing of bells on a rainy afternoon, soft and somewhat silent. "It's just that... I've never seen you before."

Of course you've never seen me before. I come from a completely different world. I shook my head. "No, I'm not." I gave him a hint of a smile. "This is my first time in Paris, actually."

"Really? Your first time?" Quasimodo craned his neck, trying to make himself appear taller and less hunched over. I really did feel bad for the guy- I felt bad for anyone who'd been born that way, really. It's not like he'd done anything bad and had been formed this way as punishment.

"Yeah." I nodded, and the sound of rain grew louder- it must have been storming outside. "I haven't had much time to look around. But it seems like a beautiful city."

The ends of his lips curled upwards, forming a subtle smile. "It really is. It may seem overwhelming, at first, but you get used to it."

"Trust me," I said under a heavy sigh, "I've had my fair share of overwhelming things."

"What was that?"

I bit the inside of my cheek. "Nothing! Nothing."

Quasimodo looked uneasy for a moment, pressing his lips together and picking at his fingernails- and for a moment, I became uneasy, too. Did he think that I had insulted him?

He cleared his throat and let his arms drop to his sides. "If- If you aren't from Paris, then wh-where are you from?"

"America," I replied, my answer coming out a little too quickly. It was the same story that I'd given Gaston, so I may as well have kept using it.

"Modern America?" he asked. His tone was so soft, so feather light- it was as though his words were floating around in the air above my head.

"Mmh hmm."

"That's- that's quite far from here."

I shrugged. "I've been living there my whole life," I spoke, the words pulling themselves together on their own and tripping over my teeth. "I've never had the opportunity to travel to a different country- erm, kingdom." My eyes grew wide, and I stopped myself, slamming my lips shut. I assumed that they weren't called "countries" in the Disneyverse.