Claudine, a Daughter of Esmeralda

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Note: Video above is what Claudine transferred to her cell phone when Carlos put a hole in the barrier.


Princess Claudine had quite a bit to say about herself. She was the ridicule of the Isle, she had a half-sister also living on the Island, a stepmother who had wanted to stay young by keeping Rapunzel's hair magic, and that her father had raised Quasimodo in a bell tower.

Yes, if you've watched the movie The Hunchback of Notre Dame, you'd know what's going on.

Anyway, when Mal, Evie, Jay, Harold and Carlos were still living on the Isle, Carlos had temporarily broken a hole in the Isle's barrier. That had allowed Claudine to go on Auratube and transfer a funny video to her cell phone, so that way she wouldn't have to worry about needing an Internet connection to watch it.

Claudine didn't call anyone with her phone. She would just stare at it for a while every day. But now she had something else to do with it.

When she wasn't with her father and stepmother, she'd be sweet and kind, most of the time.

Another thing about her: She rings the bell at Dragon Hall, her high school. She also has a knack for dancing. She inherited that trait from her mother.

Anyway, let's get to what's going on with her right now.

It was nighttime and Claudine was having a strange dream. It had been plaguing her and her half-sister Ginny Gothel for the past two days.

Claudine and Ginny were in Auradon, hanging out in their room at Auradon Prep. The girls were playing Go Fish.

"Gin, do you have an Ace of Spades?" Claudine asked.

"Go Fish." Ginny replied.

Claudine was about to draw a card from the pile, when she stopped cold. "Claudine, what's wrong?" Ginny asked.

"I think I hear something." Claudine whispered. She stood up to investigate, and so did Ginny.

Just then, the shadowy face of a goat like demon popped up on the curtain.

"Aieee!" Ginny yelled. They ran to another side of the room, but then they saw the shadow reach out a clawed hand as if to grab them.

Claudine yelped and pulled her half-sister along. They ran upstairs to their bedroom. Claudine ran in, but Ginny stayed in the doorway to wait for the moment to shut the door. When Ginny saw the shadow of the face of the goat demon, she gasped and closed the door, locking it.

Claudine then pulled out her phone. "I'd better call Mal." She dialed the number, but after a few seconds, the battery went from full to empty and the face of the evil gypsy woman who cursed the girls appeared on the screen. Claudine screamed and threw her phone onto her bed.

"Uh, Claudine..." Ginny whispered, pointing to the bottom of the door. The demon's shadowy hands were reaching through the crack in the bottom of the door, once again trying to grab the girls.

Both Claudine and Ginny shrieked, ran to the window and tried to open it, only for the actual face of the demon, a black goat, to pop up and make the girls run back screaming. The window shattered and an invisible force tossed the girls up to the ceiling, spinning them around several times as if they were trapped in a tornado before throwing them into the wall.

The girls then heard the demon's voice. "Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha! I am the Lamia! I will come for you Claudine Frollo and Ginny Gothel, and I will drag you AND your father into Hell!"

Claudine woke up from her nightmare with an earsplitting shriek. She decided to look at her cell phone.

When the sun came up, Claudine was, again, watching her funny video, Anime 404, on her phone, when Ginny ran upstairs. "Sister, Prince Ben's coronation is tomorrow. Can we watch it on our TV?"

"Sure." Claudine replied. "But I'd like to go for a little walk."

After having a little pep talk with her father, Claudine left the house. After rounding a corner, she spotted an injured Pokémon. She ran over to it. "Are you ok?" She asked. "What's your name?"

The little Pokémon let out a cry.

"Helioptile, huh?" Claudine remarked. The Helioptile backed away and hid.

"No, wait!" Claudine pleaded. Helioptile slowly peeked out from its hiding spot.

Claudine knelt down and held her hand out to the little Pokémon. "Helioptile, I can save you from the flames of this world..." She hesitated. "...And the next."

Helioptile came out. "Come on." Claudine murmured.

Helioptile slowly stepped toward Claudine before nuzzling her hand and jumping into her arms.

"I'll take care of you." Claudine reassured the Electric type Pokémon. "God have mercy on us. We'll be fine, won't we?"

She started singing.

"The sun will come out... Tomorrow. Bet your bottom dollar that tomorrow... There'll be sun. Just thinking about... Tomorrow. Clears away the cobwebs and the sorrow... Till there's none."

She stood up with Helioptile in her arms.

"When I'm stuck with a day that's gray and lonely, I just stick up my chin, and grin, and say... Oh! The sun will come out tomorrow, so you've gotta hang on till tomorrow. Come what may! Tomorrow, tomorrow, I love you tomorrow. You're always a day away."

Claudine walked through the streets with Helioptile. "I'm concerned about what my father would think of you."

"Heli!" Helioptile squeaked.

"Yeah," Claudine replied. "Just pretend you're evil."

She finished the song.

"When I'm stuck with a day that's gray and lonely, I just stick up my chin, and grin, and say... Oh! The sun will come out tomorrow, so you've gotta hang on till tomorrow. Come what may! Tomorrow, tomorrow, I love you tomorrow. You're always a day away. Tomorrow, tomorrow, I love you tomorrow. You're always... A day... A...WAY!"

Later, when Claudine got home with Helioptile, Ginny came downstairs with their father. "Daddy, look at this. It's a Pokémon. It's name is Helioptile!"

"Claudine, do you think this Pokémon reminds you of any gypsies?"

"Nah." Claudine replied. "It looks nothing like a gypsy. I found it on the street. It was abandoned by its Trainer and sent here to the Isle."

"I've heard about several Pokémon being abandoned by their Trainers and left on the Island." Ginny commented. "There have been rumors going around that Ursula and her daughter are taking care of a Froakie."

Claudine sighed. "Not even the Pokémon here could escape the barrier."

After a long pause, Ginny spoke up. "Dad, Claudine and I have something to tell you."

"What is it?" Their father asked.

Claudine spoke first as she and Ginny sat on either side of their father. "Gin and I were having terrible nightmares for the past few days."

"What are the nightmares about?" The girls' father questioned.

"Have you heard of the Lamia?" Ginny asked.

"Yes." Claudine and Ginny's father replied. "Back when I was the Minister of Justice, several sinners would speak of the Lamia. It is said to be the most feared of all demons."

"Well," Claudine went on. "Daddy, the Lamia has been appearing in mine and Ginny's dreams for the past few days now. It's been saying things like, 'I will find you all and bring you to Hell.' What should we do?"

"Pray to God." Claudine and Ginny's father replied. "Ask Him to help drive the Lamia away from you."

"Ok," Ginny accepted.

The girls prayed to God before heading upstairs with Helioptile to watch Anime 404 once more and take their minds off the Lamia.

After that, they watched The Hunchback of Notre Dame. "Hey, Claudine, the old woman that cursed us in our dream was a gypsy, right?" Ginny asked when she and Claudine saw the scene where their father reluctantly adopted Quasimodo.

"Maybe that's why Dad hated gypsies." Claudine concluded.

"I don't think we should ask him. He'd get mad." Ginny suggested.

That night, Claudine and Ginny went to sleep, and for the first time in three nights, they weren't tormented by the Lamia.



























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