Chapter Text
I never knew my mother or my father, as a baby of unfathomable monstrosity, I was left on the steps before the doors to a mighty and holy cathedral, soon taken in by an archdeacon by the name of Claude Frollo. He named me Quasimodo, after the holiday of Quasimodo Sunday, the same day he found me on those doorsteps, and took me under his wing, or so I used to believed he would. Raising me within the confines of the cathedral known by many as Notre Dame and tasked to ring its glorious bells, Claude blinded and deceived me, projecting his dark heart to the rest of the outside world.
Then in 1482, I met a gypsy girl named Esmerelda, and despite my hideous deformity, she saw through and brought a light of kindness to my weary and lonely heart. I almost began to fall in love with her, but I wouldn't be the only one. Soon, she was captured and put on trial by Claude himself, who too felt a deep desire for her, and she was sentenced to hang for a crime she didn't commit. In a blind vengeance, I threw him to his demise, a hell too good for someone like him.
But revenge did nothing to bring her back, she was all that I truly loved. In despair, I escaped and fled deep underground and far beneath Notre Dame, where I would remain for all time, never knowing where the bodies of Claude and Esmerelda may have gone. I was trapped and buried for many centuries to come, until now...
Location: National Museum of Natural History, Paris, France
Timedate: 6th September 2007
Upon the surface, this museum is seemingly normal and innocent to any unsuspecting eyes of the public. Many people wandering all about and observing all the frozen animals on display, whether they be living or extinct. But just underneath the surface, something much more esoteric was bound. Walls of old stone brick and stairs of old black iron were juxtaposed with rail pillars of sterile grey steel along with doors and screens of perfectly clear glass. In the liminal ambience, a few several people either stood still on duty or walked about with intent, some wore lab-coats of pure white while other wore armoured uniforms of black. Deep within and below the storages and confines of this museum, homed the French division of Prodigium. A clandestine agency and organisation that had been around for quite a long time, for centuries even, dedicated to recognising, containing, examining, and destroying evil.
In one of the vast rooms, a man of moderately wrinkled skin, short silvery hair, and weary grey eyes, donned in a shirt of white within a suit, tie, and trousers of matching grey sat back in his chair and closely to his desk. Deep in his slow train of thought, he stared almost wearily at a framed photo of a few formally suited individuals of varying age, including himself. Just then, he heard a few distant metallic knocks from behind the hatch-like door up ahead at the other end of the room.
"Do come in", the man spoke up as he stood up from his chair.
After a quiet bleep and a clank of metal, the door cracked and shifted open, revealing two individual people as they entered their way into the room and walked towards the desk. The first was a pale woman of late twenties with short blonde hair and stern blue eyes wearing a polo-neck top, trousers, boots, and body armour of matching black. The other was a fair-skinned man of generally similar age with a brown mullet and curious sky-blue eyes wearing a polo-neck top and trousers of matching light-grey, black leathery slip-on shoes, and a white suit jacket.
"Ah, Agent Laverne and Doctor Foucher", the elderly man recognised and greeted before sitting back down. "Good to see you two again. You may take a seat each".
"Bonjour, Professor Chaney", the young man, Dr Foucher, nodded and took a seat.
"You called for us both, monsieur?" the young woman, Agent Laverne, questioned as she too sat down next to Foucher.
"Ah oui, I did", the elderly man, Professor Chaney, confirmed. "I've an interesting mission that I'm thinking about putting you two in charge of".
"What mission may that be, Professor?" Dr Foucher asked.
"For some time now, we've been planning an excavation of sorts, beneath the cathedral of Notre Dame, to uncover whatever secrets it may've hidden", Professor Chaney explained, showing a few photos of the famed cathedral itself. "And yet we had been waiting for approval from the government and its associates and representative officials, until now".
"And you want us to lead this investigation", Agent Laverne guessed.
"That is correct", Chaney confirmed.
"So what is it really exactly that has your intrigue there?" Foucher questioned.
"Legends once spoke of a mysterious hunchbacked figure who would ring its bells many centuries ago", Chaney recalled, as if telling an old folks' tale. "But had disappeared, nowhere to be seen, found, or even heard".
"And you really believe that this hunchback could somehow still be alive?" Laverne expressed a hint of doubt. "Especially after all those years?"
"And still inside that cathedral?" Foucher added.
"Better to search out the truth yourself now while you can, than to spend the rest of your mortal life always wondering", Chaney refuted back. "But yes, Notre Dame may well be the first place to start up with".
"Very well then, Professor", Foucher accepted. "I'll have an expedition team ready and on the go".
"And you'll have some of your fellow soldiers with you for security in case anything or anyone goes awry", Chaney pointed at Laverne.
"Will do, sir", Laverne nodded before she and Foucher stood back up and left.