A/N: Hey everybody! I hope you guys are having a wonderful day! Been a bit since I updated this story and this chapter is pretty much as ready as it's going to get. It is here that things begin to take a detour from the movie. Not in a major way just yet, but I have done some tinkering to one of the characters in this particular chapter. You'll see what I mean once you're through reading as telling you anything more will spoil the surprise.

Warnings: This chapter is pretty short and it'll be clear by the end of the chapter why, what has been a fairly mild story so far, has that T rating. (Insert evil laughter here.)

Disclaimer: The Hunchback of Notre Dame and its sequel film are products of Disney. I do not own them. This is merely a fanfiction made for entertainment purposes and so that I can practice writing in a more lighthearted way since I have a tendency to write some dark material...I might have failed in that effort.

Chapter 4: Fashion Faux Pas & Abused Trinkets

"This was an awful, horrible, and all around bad idea."

It was the following day and somehow, somehow, Quasimodo's gargoyle friends convinced him to seek Madellaine at the circus.

On top of this horrendous lapse in judgment, Hugo decided to dust off an old outfit that had been gathering dust in the deepest corner of the cathedral. The hunchback was actually surprised the outfit had actually fit him. Truly, he'd been pleased.

Wearing this immaculate outfit of crimson with an illustrious violet cape over his shoulders and a red hat topped with a feather, Quasimodo strode out into the streets feeling more confident than in the twenty plus years he'd been alive...

That is until he saw the looks on the faces of his two friends and their son.

Even the goat seemed to be flabbergasted.

And thus prompted the thoughts of...

"This was an awful, horrible, and all around bad idea."

But it was far too late to turn back now, so without showing a hint of his true feelings about this situation, the Hunchback of Notre Dame simply placed his hands on his hips and asked...

"How do I look?"

Their expressions really said it all.

Feeling ten times more embarrassed than he had ten seconds ago, Quasi quickly took the cap off his head. "Too much?"

This seemed to shake his friends out of their stunned stupor.

"No..."

"It's fine..."

Phoebus chuckled awkwardly after speaking. At the same time Zephyr shot forward like a rocket exclaiming, "You look amazing, Quasi!"

"It's a new you!" Phoebus added, taking a couple steps forward.

He was followed by Esmeralda who sent her friend a gleaming smile as she complimented him, saying, "Quasi, don't worry, you look dashing!"

Quasimodo had no idea if his friends were telling the truth or lying through their teeth to attempt sparing his feelings, and at that moment, he didn't care too much. He was happy to be out and about with people who cared for him. The circus would provide a nice change of pace, whether he ran into Madellaine again or not.

Looking briefly at the sign above him, Quasi ran into the park hand in hand with Zephyr, who began shouting excitedly the second they entered. As they traveled through the open field, Zephyr's eyes bulged at all the different sights surrounding them. Multi-color tents stood scattered about the area with performers of all shapes and sizes either running in or out of said tents, or happily greeting civilians. Other circus folk performed quick tricks and others walked by on stilts that were almost ten feet tall!

Quasi noticed one woman carrying a young boy on her shoulders as she rode a unicycle. As she continued peddling, the boy juggled a series of multi-colored balls decorated with stars. It was quite a sight to behold.

Other performers were dancing about with streamers as a familiar acrobat dazzled the crowd with her ability to balance and travel leisurely while standing on a massive red ball that was in a state of constant motion. This was made more impressive by the fourteen people stacked on top of her shoulders.

As soon as Zephyr saw that, he shot forward like a rocket again, dragging Quasi with him.

"Do you see this, Quasi!? Do you see it!?"

"Amazing!"

Phoebus and Esmeralda lagged behind a bit, which made the former of the two nervous.

"Zephyr! Stay close! I don't want to lose you." He glanced around suspiciously before muttering, "You can't trust these people," under his breath.

Esmeralda sent a glare toward the back of her husband's head. "What's that supposed to mean?"

Phoebus didn't seem to read the actual question Esmeralda was asking, instead saying, "Just look at them! Traveling from town to town like..."

The soldier stopped, closing his eyes as he tried to grasp the word he wanted. He couldn't seem to catch onto it.

"Gypsies?" Esmeralda supplied.

"Yes!"

Esmeralda's expression soured considerably.

"No! I mean...uh..."

The gypsy in question was still waiting for an explanation with her arms folded across her chest and her bare foot tapping on the dirt as if to say, "You're in big trouble."

Phoebus, sensing this, immediately turned his attention toward something that wasn't his wife.

"Quasi! Where's this Madellaine girl of yours?"

Esmeralda straggled behind a bit. "Oh, this isn't over, Captain."

Completely unaware of that situation, Quasi responded to Phoebus saying, "I don't know." As he said this, he caught a glimpse of her likeness painted on a poster. She was wearing a red dress and introducing a magician.

"But I'm sure she'll be out soon."

"I'm not going out there."

Madellaine said this, but her voice lacked the conviction she needed to really sell the argument she wanted to make.

Sarouch sat before her, getting a manicure.

"You say that as if you have a choice."

Letting out a sigh, Madellaine let her thoughts drift to Merlin's words from the night before. She wasn't sure if she bought into his future seeing gimmick, but being in the middle of this La Fidele business made her feel uneasy. And, as Gabriella had also pointed out, this was a job for one of Sarouch's muscle-bound, threatening goons, not an admittedly beautiful but utterly nonthreatening woman who ran the first time she even saw the target.

Of course, obvious logic wasn't going to get through to the vain man, so if Madellaine had any hope of squirming her way out of this mess, a switch in tactics was in order.

"You don't understand," she began, hating herself for what she was about to say. "You didn't see him! I don't want to be part of this anymore."

Madellaine was about to follow up with, "the monstrous appearance of the bell-ringer is too much for my weak disposition" but Sarouch cut her off before she could get to the punch line, which was too bad. She was pretty sure he would have let her off the hook if she'd mentioned that, given how obsessed he was with his own looks.

"You should have thought about that before you stole from me."

Madellaine groaned inwardly. He had a tendency to bring this up whenever she didn't want to fall in line.

"But I was only six years old," she replied, indignant as he rose up from his seat, the manicure finished.

"And you were starving, and it was only a few coins," he continued, stepping toward her with a malevolent expression. Some of the intimidation was lost as one of his lackeys put a corset around his massive gut and pulled tight.

"Gah! Not so tight!"

Madellaine ignored this in favor of continuing her argument. "I made a mistake. How long are you going to hold it over my head?"

"For as long as I want," Sarouch answered while his minion helped him into his ensemble for the show. The grooming continued, but Madellaine couldn't focus on it. Something about the way the cruel magician was staring at her made her feel exposed and vulnerable.

"After all, did I turn you over to the authorities?"

Madellaine clenched her fists by her sides. "No."

"Did I drop you into the slums to rot away like a common animal?"

"No." Tears were beginning to well up in her eyes. She could feel it, but refused to let them fall. He did this all the time. She needed to stand her ground for once.

But the little reminders of his charity chipped away at her resolve.

"And who took you in?" he questioned again. "Who looked after you like a true friend?"

Weakly, Madellaine answered.

"You did."

Sarouch smirked, knowing he'd won yet again.

"All you need to do is look pretty for him, and he'll tell you what I need to know. It'll be no fuss, and no one will get hurt."

Madellaine didn't like the sudden edge to his tone. She turned away, afraid to look him in the eye.

"Just be obedient, my dear."

With a flourish, he nodded for his goon to leave. The stooge did so.

Madellaine heard the door slam behind her and Sarouch shifting in front of her, but she was too busy staring at the floor to notice anything more than that. It wasn't until she saw her guardian's feet beneath her line of vision that she became aware of his proximity to her...and she didn't like it. Not at all.

She started to look up, to back away, only to feel the sharp sting of a hand pelting her across the face.

Too blindsided to keep her balance, Madellaine fell against the floor with a soft gasp of pain. For a moment she sat there with her hands pressed against the wall, stunned as the room rattled with the sound of some fragrance bottles and makeup collapsing against the counters.

And then, with a shaky hand, she tentatively touched her burning cheek.

"Did he...really just slap me?"

"You will be obedient, won't you?"

Madellaine nodded, unable to speak.

Sarouch, unsatisfied by her silence, gripped her arm and forcibly yanked her up into a standing position. Madellaine, terrified at what he might do next, shut her eyes and whimpered pitifully. This seemed to anger the magician. He shook her until she let out a scream, her eyes opening wide.

The first thing she saw was his menacing, icy eyes.

"Won't you?" he asked.

"Y-yes!"

His responding smirk made her sick with dread. "Good."

He released her slowly, gently, as a serene calmness overtook his features. Madellaine remained still, even after she was free.

"I'm very glad you've come to see things my way," he proclaimed cheerfully, walking over to the counter where her red dress lay sprawled like a piece of trash. While standing there, he took a few seconds to appraise himself in the mirror.

"I could kiss me," he breathed, smiling seductively to himself before gripping the dress in his hands. "Come trinket!"

He tossed it to her so quickly, Madellaine barely caught hold of the fabric. In seconds he was walking past her, acting as if the dramatic episode of abuse was nothing more than a trivial business matter.

"We're on in five! Be in your place...or else."

He slammed the door. This time the sound made her flinch.

Madellaine stood still just long enough to be sure the madman wasn't coming back, then she finally released a shuddering breath. A wild, frenzied emotion welled up in her chest as she cradled the dress closer to her body.

"Stand there and look pretty."

Looking in the mirror, she finally understood how vital this role was to her survival in this world.

Up until this point, she had never been truly aware of Sarouch's nature. When she was a child, she was simply too young to understand. Gabriella took initiative to protect her from the truth about the man the second she arrived on the scene.

But now...she knew.

He was a devil.

And he owned her.

There was no other choice but to do his bidding...or else...

Or else what?

Without words or tears, Madellaine rushed to put her costume on before the main event began.

She didn't want to know what "or else" meant.

A/N: And that's the end of this chapter. Again, it's pretty short but I wanted Madellaine's scene to have a strong impact. I felt that immediately transitioning to the next scene would steal from the impact of what just happened, so...you guys will just have to wait until the next one to see how things progress from here. So far things have gone along the movie plot line, but I think that's going to be changing pretty soon. I'm still thinking about where to take things next so it might be a while until the next update. I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter despite how short it was. I'll try to make the next one longer. Best wishes to you all. God bless you all. Have a great day! If you feel so inclined, please leave me a review too!