Author's Note
Sup, dogs! Ya miss me? TheSavageMan100 returns with the sixth main addition to the Fairy Tail Disney Parody pantheon: The Black Wizard of Notre Dame! Based on the Hunchback of Notre Dame, one of the films of the critically acclaimed Disney Renaissance, it has beautiful orchestral music and chorus, catchy tunes, and dark themes that put the Black Cauldron to shame. In my opinion, The Hunchback of Notre Dame is the underdog of the Renaissance.

FYI for anyone who's watched the film, Zeref, who will be playing Quasimodo, is NOT a hunchback. Instead, he'll be a child cursed with black magic. Though the story follows the actual plot of the movie, it's completely Fairy Tail, with bits and details from the manga mixed in. Anyways, on to the summary.

Born with the power to control the Black Arts of Ankhseram, Zeref has lived his whole life kept under lock and key by Acnologia, the corrupt Minister of Crocus. At the urging of his gargoyle friends, he leaves the solitary safety of his bell tower, venturing out to find his first true friend, the gypsy beauty Erza Scarlet. The most unlikely of heroes, Zeref learns to control his magic and protect the city he loves.

DISCLAIMER: All rights belong to Disney, Hiro Mashima, A-1 Pictures, and Bridge. Please support the official release.

As our story begins, the pounding clangs of bells rang from the Cathedral of Notre Dame. Located at the center of the city of Crocus, the capital of Fiore, it was named the crown jewel and pride of the city. Even the Royal Family was enthralled by its majestic beauty. The cathedral rose from the heavens, the clouds submerging the bottom signifying sanctuary to all who visits there. Within the clouds below was Crocus, where the local citizens were going about their peaceful lives, sheltered by houses and walls of wood and stone.

Voice: Morning in Crocus
The city awakes
To the bells of Notre Dame

A fisherman named Bora the Prominence was seen fishing on the side of a stone bridge, while Yajima was seen coming out of the bakery, selling loaves of bread.

The fisherman fishes
The baker man bakes
To the bells of Notre Dame

The sounds of the cathedral's bells resonated with the mysterious singing voice.

To the big bells as loud as the thunder
To the little bells soft as a psalm
And some say the soul of the city's
The toll of the bells
The bells of Notre Dame

Of course, the singing voice belonged to a 17-year old salmon-haired boy wearing a black one-sleeved waistcoat. His name was Natsu Dragneel, and he ran a puppet stand surrounded by a group of gleeful children.

"Hey, kids! Can you listen to the sound of the bells?" Natsu asked, stretching his hand close to his ear. "It's like sweet music to our ears. It's got a whole lot of colorful sounds and a lot of changing moods. Because, you know, those bells don't ring all by themselves."

"They don't?!" Natsu's best friend, a blue Exceed named Happy, exclaimed as he emerged out of the puppet stand. "I always thought that the bells ring all by themselves, like magic."

"So they think, Happy. So they think," Natsu chuckled. He pulled back a curtain to reveal a view of the Cathedral of Notre Dame. He gestured to the bell tower up above, "Way up there, high in the bell tower lives the mysterious bell ringer. Every morning and every night, he rings those bells, and people are free to listen to the music, anytime, anywhere. But who the heck is this bell ringer?"

"Who?" Happy asked.

"What is he?" Natsu asked again.

"What?" Happy scratched his head.

"How did he come to be here?" Natsu asked a third time.

"How?" Happy demanded.

"Quit it, Happy!" Natsu snapped, hitting Happy on the head with a small stick. "You're leaving those kids in the dark!"

"Ouch…" Happy groaned, rubbing his head in pain. This made the children laugh at his expense.

Natsu turned to the kids and cleared his throat, going back to where he left off, "Sorry for the delay, kids, but we're gonna start the story anyway. It is a tale; the tale of a man… and a monster."

TWENTY YEARS AGO…

That cold December night, most of Crocus's residents slept peacefully in their beds, sheltered from the winter chill. But at the river underneath the large stone bridge, four mysterious people emerged from the darkness, rowing a boat to safer ground. Three men silently rowed the boat, while a woman clutched a small bundle to her chest.

"We're almost there," the first man whispered. "Belno, are you sure about this?" He placed a concerned hand on the woman's shoulder.

Belno answered, "Roubaul, his father was murdered six months after he was born. The man's wife entrusted me, their housemaid, to hide him away."

The second man sighed, "I hope you know what you're doing. If Minister Acnologia finds you—"

"He won't, Org," Belno assured, holding the baby in the small bundle. "The baby will be safe in a few minutes, tops."

Natsu: Dark was the night
When our tale was begun
On the docks near Notre Dame

"Shut it up, will you?" Org hissed.

"We'll be spotted!" Roubaul whispered.

"Hush, little one," Belno cradled the baby in her arms.

Four frightened gypsies
Slid silently under the docks
Near Notre Dame

Once Belno, Roubaul, and Org disembarked from the boat, the driver, Michello, held out a hand, asking money from the three, "Four guilders for safe passage into Crocus."

Without warning, an arrow struck the oar, barely nailing Michello. Not too far away, the Guard of Crocus spotted the gypsies and emerged from every dark corner of the docks, surrounding them.

But a trap had been laid for the gypsies
And they gazed up in fear and alarm
At a figure whose clutches were iron
As much as the bells

Looking over their shoulders, the gypsies gasped in fear at the sight of the one who ordered the ambush. The figure riding a black horse was a tall muscular elderly man with long, dark blue hair, dark skin, and some parts of his body bearing spiraling light blue markings. He wore a dark blue tuxedo with a high collared black cloak, a necklace of sharp claws around his neck, armored shoulder pads, shiny gauntlets, and a gold arm ring tightened around his right upper arm. His name was Acnologia, Acno for short, the Minister of Crocus.

"Judge Acnologia," Roubaul recognized fearfully.

The bells of Notre Dame

Choir: Kyrie Eleison (Lord have mercy)

Natsu: Judge Acno had longed to purge the world
Of vice and sin

Choir: Kyrie Eleison

Natsu: And he saw corruption everywhere
Except within

Acnologia glared disdainfully at the gypsies, the guards cuffing and dragging them away, save for Belno, who was still holding the baby. "Bring these gypsy vermin to the Palace of Justice," he hissed.

"You there! What are you hiding?!" a guard barked, noticing the bundle in Belno's arms, as she tried to run away.

"Stolen goods, no doubt," Acnologia confirmed. "Take them from her."

"She ran," Natsu narrated eerily.

With a loud whinny, Acnologia's black horse took off at full speed in hot pursuit of the woman. Still clothing the baby to her chest, Belno ran through the dark streets, twisting and turning round, building after building. But everywhere she turned, Acnologia was always right behind her.

Choir: Dies irae (Dies irae) (Day of wrath)
Dies illa (Dies illa) (That day)
Solvet saeclum in favilla (Shall consume the world in ashes)
Teste David cum sybylla (As prophesied by David and the sibyl)

As Belno turned a corner, she almost slipped, but ran up some steps as Acnologia gained on her, pushing away the sign of a building in his wake. When Belno reached an iron fence, she leapt over it and hit the ground, and continued to run.

Quantus tremor est futurus (What trembling is to be)
Quando Judex est venturus (When the Judge is to come)

Up ahead stood the doors to the Cathedral of Notre Dame; her only chance of escape. Those who claimed sanctuary were welcomed by the church and could not be touched by the authority of Crocus, not even Judge Acnologia. Picking up her pace, Belno ran up the steps and stumbled to the door, desperately pounding on it with her fist and screaming through the thick wood, "Sanctuary! Please give us sanctuary!"

She waited for a moment, but no one answered. Acnologia once again came into view, and he was still hot on her heels. Abandoning the cathedral doors, Belno attempted to get away, but just as she reached the steps, Acnologia pulled up beside her.

Quantus tremor est futurus
Quando Judex est venturus

Acnologia grabbed the small bundle clutched to Belno's chest. With one violent tug, the Minister yanked the bundle from the woman's arms, and Belno fell back on the solid stone steps with enough force to break her neck.

Acnologia stared at the lifeless body, adrenaline and disgust coursing through his veins. A frightened scream filled the air, and the Minister stared at the bundle in his hands. "A baby?" he wondered.

Pulling back the blanket, Acnologia came face-to-face with a black-eyed baby with platinum black hair. As the baby's terrified shrieks continued, a covering of black mist emerged from the blanket, finding its way onto Acnologia's silver gauntlets. When the mist touched, the gauntlets began to wither into scrap, before they broke into pieces, revealing his bare muscular hands. Acnologia's eyes widened with horror.

"Black magic!" Acnologia gasped, covering the baby's face as if just looking at him would kill him. Looking around, he caught sight of a well not too far away.

Solvet saeclum in favilla
Dies irae, dies irae

Sitting straight in his saddle, Acnologia guided his horse towards the well, preparing to drop the defenseless child in when…

"STOP!"

"Cried Makarov Dreyar, the Archdeacon," Natsu narrated.

Sure enough, the person who had stopped Acnologia from dropping the baby into the well was an 88-year old man with white freckles of hair and a mustache, and wearing an archdeacon's outfit. His name was Makarov Dreyar, the Archdeacon of Notre Dame. Opening the cathedral doors, Makarov had witnessed what unfolded and stopped Acnologia before any blood was shed.

Acnologia turned away from the well and explained, "This is an unholy demon. It has the power to manipulate Death Magic, and everything around him dies. I'm simply sending it back to Hell, where it belongs."

Makarov was having none of it, as he knelt beside the motionless Belno.

Makarov: See there the innocent blood you have spilt
On the steps of Notre Dame

"I am guiltless," Acnologia said remorselessly. "She ran, I pursued."

Now you would add this child's blood to your guilt
On the steps of Notre Dame

"My conscience is clear," Acnologia said calmly. Makarov's anger was getting the better of him as he countered to Acnologia's cruel statement.

You can lie to yourself and your minions
You can claim that you haven't a qualm
But you never can run from
Nor hide what you've done from the eyes

With an adamant glare, Makarov pointed a finger to the carved stone statues surrounding the cathedral.

The very eyes of Notre Dame

Choir: Kyrie Eleison (Lord have mercy)

The cold-hearted Minister stumbled back, his gaze meeting the statues surrounding him. If he didn't know any better, he could suspect that God's angels were glaring accusingly at him. Acnologia could not hide what he had done; once his time was up, God's view of him is the only one he'd care about. He would face Heaven's wrath.

Natsu: And for one time
In his life of power and control

Choir: Kyrie Eleison

Natsu: Acno felt a twinge of fear
For his immortal soul

At that moment, Acnologia felt a sense of terror he never knew, the sight of the statues shaking him to his core. The most frightening was the statue of the Virgin Mary holding her infant son Jesus, casting a disgusted look as if hating him for what he had done. Lightning struck, illuminating the statue's figure.

His body trembling, Acnologia looked back to Makarov, who picked up Belno's dead body. He asked, "What must I do?"

Standing up to meet his eye, Makarov gave Acnologia a serious look, "Care for the child, and raise it as your own."

"What?" Acnologia said in disbelief. "I'm to be saddled with this cursed… thing? That child can manipulate black magic, so he's clearly a demon. Obviously, those gypsies are in connection with black magic."

"That's no reason for the woman to die," Makarov argued. "You killed a perfectly innocent woman, and left a helpless baby boy without a mother."

Acnologia snarled, "Everyone knows how I feel about those gypsies. They are disgusting, evil vermin that threaten law and order in this city."

Makarov shot back, "Say what you want, Minister Acnologia. But it cannot justify what you've done. The child needs someone to watch out for him, and if you're serious about redeeming yourself before God, you should be that someone…"

Acnologia took his time to deliberate Makarov's suggestion, and finally, he agreed, "Very well. I will raise the child. But let him live with you in your church."

"Live here? But where?" Makarov asked.

"Anywhere," Acnologia replied. "I want his connection to the outside world as limited as possible."

Acnologia: Just so he's kept locked away
Where no one else can see

He then gestured to the bell tower, "The bell tower, perhaps. And who knows? Our Lord works in mysterious ways."

Acnologia knew that his decision to raise the child was wrong, but he didn't really have much of a choice. Then again, an idea crept into his head as Acnologia's lips formed a smirk.

Even this foul creature
May yet one day prove to be…
Of use to me

Back in the present, Natsu continued his story with a puppet show in front of the children. He held up a puppet of Acnologia holding the child.

"…and Acnologia gave the child a name," Natsu narrated. "A name that's as black as night… Zeref."

As the puppet show continued, it progressed how Zeref had grown over the years into the bell ringer he was now.

Natsu: Now, here is a riddle
To guess if you can
Sing the bells of Notre Dame
Who is the monster
And who is the man?

Sing the bells, bells, bells, bells
Bells, bells, bells, bells
Bells of Notre Dame

Ever since that day, Zeref had lived in the solitary confines of the bell tower, where he rang the bells since the day he knew how. It wasn't clear in that moment that his life had changed since Acnologia took him in, but he didn't realize that one simple day – this day – would impact his life…