Pythia
By Jo Huston (formerly Lucy de Pointe du Lac)
!PLEASE SEE AUTHOR'S NOTE AT THE BOTTOM!
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Dedicated to DistrictAttorneyoftheTheatre, Nephele, Christine Daae and anonymous.
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Disclaimer- I do NOT own Phantom of the Opera. It is owned by M. Gaston Leroux, Andrew Llyod Webber and R.U.G. Don't sue.
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"You alone can make my song take flight! It's over now, the music of the night!"
The Phantom reached out to Christine who kissed Raoul, deep and passionate as they returned to the light of day.
Erik was happy for her, even though in his heart he was still dreaming that the arms that held Christine were his.
He turned and slowly walked to his throne. There he sat listening to the sound of the angry voices he knew were after him. He wrapped his cape around himself and said goodbye...
Meg climbed down the gates ahead of the mob. As her feet touched the damp floor, she took in deep breath. She was here. The place that had both haunted and mystified her best friend. But Christine was no where in sight.
'What did he do with her?' she wondered suddenly feeling anger.
She gasped as she saw a figure, wrapped in a cape, sitting at the large throne in the corner. Meg slowly and cautiously approached the chair. Gathering her courage she reached out and grabbed the cape away from the figure to reveal...nothing.
Meg gasped. All that was left was a mask...slender and white. She kneeled beside the throne and carefully picked up the mask in her small hand.
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Ten long years later...
'What am I doing here?' The young woman thought as she approached the Opera House. Memories flooded back as she walked up the steps of the once grand and regal Paris Opera. Her dark blue velvet dress rubbed against her strong, dancer's, legs as she quickened her pace. She reached out to pull open the door, but pulled back a second as she thought of her last day here...
"We are very sorry you have to leave us. You were an important part of this opera," Monsier Firman patted her gloved hand. Her mother had just died and she needed to see her younger sister in America.
"Thank you very much...but I can't stay here...you must understand..." she looked at him and his partner Monsier Andre, with hopeful eyes.
Monsier Andre moved up beside her, "May I show you out?" he said as he held his arm out for her.
She smiled at him, "Thank you," she said as she accepted his arm.
They walked out the door into the long, well done main hall of the Opera House. They walked past many of the fine statues and she couldn't hold back a tear from rolling down her face. M. Andre noticed it and stopped.
She looked up to face him, "I'm really going to miss it here..." she put a hand to her face. M. Andre pulled it away and held her hand in his.
"You are always welcome..."
'You are always welcome', she thought. She deep breath and pulled open the door.
The first thing she noticed was the emptiness. The regularly crowded halls with chattering people waiting to be admitted, were empty. The air was musky and there were white cloths over many of the statues.
She walked over to the white cloth she knew her favorite statue was under, her heels clicking against the floor. She reached out and quickly pulled the sheet off the statue. The bronze carving of a young woman in a ballet outfit, dancing. Marcello's Pythia. She loved it because it always reminded her of herself. She smiled and slowly lifted her hand to touch the woman's face when suddenly she heard a gruff voice behind her.
"'Ey! What are you doing in 'ere?"
The young lady spun around to see a middle aged man dressed in overalls and a plaid shirt...and he was covered in dirt and oil.
"Who are you?" she asked him.
"Me name's 'Enry. I'm workin' on restorin' one of the boxes in the theatre. Who're you?" he said placing his hand on his hip.
The young woman fiddled with her dress as she spoke. "I...I used to dance here. I had to move away. When I heard the Opera was going to re-open I had to come back. But...who are the managers now?" she asked him.
The man scratched his chin, "Uh...some nice fellows...what were their names? Oh yes...Firman and Andre".
She smiled, "Good. Do you know when they will be back?" she asked him.
Henry shrugged, "Tomorrow morn', I suppose...why?"
The lady smiled as she moved towards the door, "I want to dance again. Thank you for your help..." she thanked him and pushed the door open.
"Wait! You still didn't tell me your name, Miss...?"
She smiled.
"Meg Giry"
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The Next Morning...
"What are we going to do!" M. Andre cried practically pulled his hair out.
"Now Andre," M. Firman came over and sat Andre in his chair. "Don't worry, we'll think of something." Then he sat down in his own chair, trying to sort his thoughts.
Inside the manager's box at the Paris Opera, things weren't going the way the managers had planned.
"But the Opera House is going to re-open in one month! And we still have no one to perform! No singer for an opera, no dancer for a ballet! We're going to have to push back the re-opening date!" Andre grabbed his newspaper off his desk and began to browse towards the ads section.
Firman rested his hand on his head. "Please Andre...you're not going to find anyone in there! Now we need to think...who can we get?".
Andre's head jerked up. "What about Carlotta Gudicelli? Do you think she would do it?"
Firman looked up at him with a distressed look on his face. "You've forgotten, La Carlotta retired after that night with the...the... O.G. She never really got over Monsier Piangi's death."
Andre reached over and put a hand on Firman's shoulder. "What about Christine Daae? What about her?"
"No. She's in New York. And besides do you really think she'd come back here? Please..."
Suddenly the managers heard footsteps coming down the hall. Andre and Firman looked at each other.
"Who could that be?" Andre whispered as he stood up and carefully walked towards the old door.
Suddenly the footsteps stopped and Andre looked back at Firman. Then a knock was heard.
"Hello?" a small voice asked from behind the door.
Andre quickly reached down and opened the door. Meg Giry stood there in a magnificent dark red and white velvet dress. Both Andre and Firman's eyes widened.
"Miss Giry!" Firman cried as he stood up.
Meg smiled, "Good evening, gentlemen."
"Why, come in! Come in, my dear! My, you look lovely!" Andre exclaimed as he let Meg enter.
"How are you doing, Miss Giry? And back in Paris?" Firman asked as he gestured for her to it. She did.
"I'm doing most fine, thank you. I'm glad to be home." 'in Paris or at the Opera?' she wondered as she spoke.
Andre smiled, "As are we. What brings you back?"
Meg looked down at her lap and nervously twisted her fingers around the strap of her velvet purse. "I...well, I haven't danced before an audience in quite awhile and, I guess I miss it. I've been practicing, of course, but it isn't the same. The lights, the costumes...the crowds...I miss them."
Firman looked at Andre. Andre looked at Firman. They smiled. Andre put is hands over Meg's. "It seems, my dear, that you have arrived at the most oppertune moment."
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AUTHOR'S NOTE
This was written in 2002. It hasn't been updated since. I ran face first into a writer's WALL. I felt terrible letting down the three people who reviewed it and asked for it's continuation.
Now I'm in college and just got a new laptop. A started going through my files and came across this little scrap of a thing.
A light bulb went on!
I started writing again. I started with what I thought was the vital scene: Meg and Erik meet. I finished and am very happy. I think it's much better written than what you just read above. When I have more time I will completely redo the prologue and this first chapter (before they were split into three tiny chapters and tiny chapters drive me batty.)
To keep you from completely hating me, I will upload the Erik/Meg scene without the exposition that usually would be inserted between it and this chapter. As soon as I can I will write all that necessary stuff, but for now I'll just leave you with the fun stuff.
Please comment if you can, they help SOOOO much.
p.s. the title will eventually change to 'Pythia', being the famous statue in the Opera House that Meg identifies with. I hate "The Last Dance" as it is a bit common and doesn't really relate to the story. At the time I just thought it sounded dramatic. --()
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Next Chapter- skips ahead to the first Erik/Meg scene. Tell me what you think, ne?