I just watched Repo! The Genetic Opera for the first time a couple of days ago and I'm obsessed! I'm more than likely cross it over with a Phantom story one of these days (it has Sarah Brightman in it. It's just begging to be written!) but I want to try a standing alone one shot. So…yeah! And I'm sorry that Erik can't join us…*sniff*. For those who don't know who Erik is, he is the one, the only, Phantom of the Opera! He helps me with commentary and often times Christine and his daughter, Alyssandra, help me out with it…but usually it turns into full blown mass chaos! Enjoy this story!
I Would Rather Be Blind
Blind Mag
I walk through the cemetery, wandering aimlessly around the tombstones and giving the occasional glance over shoulder, just in case the police were there and mistook me as Zydrate dealer. Tonight was the night of my final performance; my last opera for GeneCo and for Rotti. Tonight is also the night when I shall lose my eyes. My eyes that can do much more than see. I can still remember when Marni first suggested that I should ask Rotti for the surgery; I told her that I was too poor and that I could manage perfectly without it. She told me that I was talking crazy and that I should at least try to ask for it and that she could perhaps persuade Rotti, who she was engaged to at the time.
After many months of bickering with each other, I finally gave in and had the surgery done. It was virtually painless and the recovery took less than two weeks, but I didn't know the consequences that would come about it. Not even a week after having my bandages off, Marni left Rotti, saying that he was an old, pudgy man who couldn't make her happy. In his anger, Rotti took everything out on me and threatened that he would take my eyes away from me. I remember begging him to not take my vision away; I had spent my whole life in darkness and I couldn't possibly go back, not after I had seen the world around me.
When he finally calmed down, he told me that I could keep my eyes under one condition: I would be the spokeswoman of GeneCo and inform him on whatever Marni was up to. I foolishly agreed, elated that I could keep my sight, but sad when I had to tell my best friend's most treasured secrets to her slightly insane ex-fiancée. So, for two years I did the nasty deed Rotti forced me to do: I would spend most of my days with Marni and her new husband, Nathan, who really was a nice man, and then report everything to Rotti. By the time Marni became pregnant and asked me to be her baby's godmother, I knew I couldn't keep up this lie any longer. I was sick and tired of hiding this monstrous secret from my friend, but I was frightened of what Rotti might do to me, since I would be breaking my contract.
The day I told Rotti that I wasn't going to be his little spy anymore, he stared at me blankly for a few seconds while I watched his sons, Pavi and Luigi, and his daughter, Amber, wait with bated breath. I can recall that he had gotten out of his seat, crossed the room to where I was standing and asked me calmly, "Why?" I told him that I couldn't stand lying to my best friend and her husband and the next thing I knew, I was on an operating table and a vile of Zydrate was being injected into me.
The strange thing about my second operation was that I don't even remember waking up from it, since I couldn't see around me. I could have been in a coma for all I knew! But I remember hearing Rotti's voice while I was sitting in the darkness, mocking me with his calm, collected voice. "Mag, if you promise to behave, I'll give you your eyes back." Or, "Blind Mag, if you follow your contract, you can have your sight back." I refused to talk to him and I knew that the days dragged into weeks and the weeks dragged into months when finally, I heard about Marni. She had died during child birth.
I thought losing my eyesight would be the worst thing that could ever happen to me…that didn't even compare to the loss I felt when I heard of her death. Marni had always been like a sister to me and hearing that she had died and that the baby, a little girl named Shilo, could possibly die as well tore me up inside. Mere minutes after hearing of my best friend's death, Rotti came into the hospital room, where I hadn't moved from since my last surgery, and heard him telling the doctor to put my eyes back in. That I deserved to be able to gaze upon Marni one last time at her funeral.
Everything, before and after the funeral, was a gigantic blur; I vaguely remember Nathan telling me that Shilo had died two days after being born, but I didn't recall there ever being a funeral for the child, and Rotti releasing me from the spying portion of my contract. I was still chained to GeneCo for life, but at least I got to sing. Finally, after everything had settled down and things seemed to return back to normal, I decided that I would go and visit Nathan; I hadn't seen him since Marni's funeral and, while we never really became close friends, he was still Marni's husband and I should treat him as such.
Once I reached his house, I knocked on the door and was shocked when I saw him: he looked exhausted! There were dark bags under his eyes, he was thin and his clothes barely fit him, but the worst part was that he looked like he was…using Zydrate. "Nathan, what have you been doing?"
He told me that he had been doing nothing, but as I walked into the living room, my worst fears were confirmed: there were little glass viles everywhere I looked and sitting on the couch was a month old infant, crying and wriggling. "Shilo…you told me that she had died! Why did you lie to me?" Nathan shot me a look before he walked over to his daughter and picked her up carefully, as if she were made of glass, and turned back to face me. I wanted to cry at the sight of the beautiful creature; she was an exact replica of her mother! She had tufts of brown hair that I knew would turn black, big, expressive brown eyes, and the same powerful set of lungs Marni always had. I reached out to take my goddaughter, but as soon as I laid my fingertips on her warm, smooth cheek, Nathan snatched her away from me.
"She's all that I have left, Mag. Please, don't take her away!" I had to reassure him that I wouldn't try to take Shilo away, but I knew that I should have; he had been unstable during her first few weeks alive. Reluctantly, Nathan handed me the baby and I smiled out of pure joy! Her tiny hand had reached up and tugged on my thick, curly hair, but that was the least of my worries; I had thought this child to be dead for nearly a month and suddenly I found out that she was quite alive.
But that had been a long time ago. Nineteen years to be absolutely exact. I look up from my feet and notice that I am in the right spot; I am standing before Marni's grave. How is it possible that, after all these years, I still feel the loss and pain of that day? How can it be that when Nathan told me Shilo had died, I believed him? I should have known that Shilo was alive and, even though I knew who she was, I never got to spend any time with her. I always wanted to spend time with my goddaughter, teach her to sing, help make whatever dreams she had come true, but then I was told that she had an incurable blood disease and that nobody but Nathan could see her.
"Marni, I must talk to you, even though I don't have very long. The Repo Man is coming for me, to take my eyes away. I wasn't frightened when Rotti first told me; I would gladly give up my eyes just to be free from this damn contract, but now I'm having second thoughts. I've been thinking about Shilo. I just saw her again; after seventeen years, I finally got to see my godchild again. She looks so much like you! It's almost scary…but that isn't why I came here today. I came here today because of my second thoughts. I'm not ready to die. I'm not ready because…because I want to be there for Shilo; be the mother that she never had. But I know that once Rotti has his mind set on something, he doesn't change it. Please, Marni. Please help me make the right decision." With that, I placed the flower that I had brought with me onto Marni's tomb.
Turning around, I was surprised when I saw the same girl who has plagued my mind for the past few hours. Shilo was in her mother's dress and I nearly called her Marni! "Shilo, what are you doing out here? Won't your father worry?"
"I doubt it; he hasn't really been paying attention to me lately. What are you doing here?"
Shilo
It was weird; I never expected to run into my godmother, Blind Mag, at the cemetery. I remember Dad telling me when I was little that Mag was one of my mother's closest friends and when I asked him if I could met her, he told me that it would be too dangerous. Yeah right.
I have to admit, finding out that my childhood hero was my godmother was kind of exciting. I mean, not many people will have the luck of calling Blind Mag, the biggest singing sensation in the whole world, was their godmother. But, I've come here for my important reasons; I've come here to talk to Mom and, hopefully, Graverobber. I know Graverobber seems to be a very unlikely choice for someone to…fall for, but if you push past the fact that he deals Zydrate illegally, and the occasional smell of rotten bodies that comes off of him, he really is a cool guy. Though I don't Dad would approve of him…
Anyways, Mag looked slightly surprised when she saw me standing behind her. Well, I guess I would be surprised to if I saw myself, the shut in that I am, standing outside, but that's beside the point. She looked down at her feet for a few seconds, like she was trying to think of something else to say, and when she finally looked up, she looked…different from the woman I saw the other night. This Mag seemed to have aged ten years since last night; maybe she was worrying about the Repo Man that was coming after her? I would love it if I could find that man and tell him a thing or two, or let Graverobber take a whack at him!
"I came here to see Marni for the last time. Knowing my luck, the Repo Man will be after me soon." She whispered, slowly walking towards me. Why didn't Dad ever let me meet Blind Mag? She is so nice, caring, loving, and he always told me that he would love it if he could find me a mother figure to look up to. If that was the case, then why didn't he ever tell me about her!
"Don't talk like that, Mag. I'm sure that it's all bluff; Largo is just trying to scare you so you'll stay with GeneCo."
A slight smirk appeared on her face and I wondered if I had said something stupid. Seeing the look on my face, she explained quickly, "I wish things could be simple like that, Shilo, but they can't. My contract…it can't be broken, even though I wish I could break it." Mag sighed and turned back to look at Mom's grave. I wonder how she was going to survive the opera; she looks so tired! "I remember when I first got the eyes." She started, placing her laced gloved hand on the cold stone, "I was only a few years older than you. Long story short, I caused a lot of pain to keep these eyes. In all honesty, I wouldn't mind it if the Repo Man came and took my eyes. In fact, I would be the one begging him to take them away."
Has she gone completely insane? Perhaps she has had a couple of Zydrate hits with Amber, but I'm pretty sure that people don't beg for the Repo Man to come and kill them and steal organs out of their body.
"I don't want you to wish that!" I suddenly blurted out. I honestly didn't mean to say anything, I really just wanted that to stay in my head, but living by yourself for seventeen years, you tend to get into the unhealthy habit of talking to yourself. Mag's smirk just seemed to grow into a full fledged smile and before I knew it, I was standing in the cemetery all alone.
Did she just disappear? That's impossible! She would have had to walk right passed me! Turning back around, I saw her car driving off. Maybe she was late for the opera, but I thought she would try to avoid the opera, seeing as how Largo is probably waiting for her with the Repo Man.
And it is done. I'm not going to write a super long thing explaining why this is so short, but I hope you guys enjoyed it and I'm planning on making another Repo! Story. Stay tuned! ;)
^.^