The Phantom of the Opera Duex: The Generation Continues
By Lucky Eponine04
Disclaimer: I own nothing of Phantom of the Opera. This story is purely out of my imagination. Happy reading!
Chapter 1: Prologue
It was a beautiful afternoon in March. The Vicount Raoul De Chaney and his wife, the lovely Christine Daae, were looking at their newborn daughter, who was crying in Christine's arms. Christine looked up at her husband and sighed.
"What is it, my darling?" Raoul inquired.
"Well, we haven't decided on a name for her yet," Christine informed him.
"Hmm. What about Meg, after your friend at the Opera House." Raoul suggested. Christine smiled and closed her eyes.
"Meg. I love that." Christine said. Raoul gently lifted Meg from her mother and held her for a while.
"Your mother needs her rest." Raoul told little Meg. Meg cooed and yawned. Raoul smiled and handed the infant back to her mother.
It was sixteen years later and Meg was putting on her fifth pair of ballet shoes. They fit her perfectly, considering her small size. Both were in Christine's dressing room, waiting to go on stage for the Opera House's new opera, "The Dance of the Swan", where both mother and daughter would be dancing in it. Christine sat in a corner of the dressing room, brushing her hair and humming a strange tune.
"Oh, mama! I love them!" Meg said as she pranced around the dressing room. Christine smiled and gave a small cough.
"Mama, what's wrong?" Meg asked, curiously.
"Nothing for you to worry about, my Angel," Christine comforted her sixteen-year-old daughter. Meg gave her a concerned look. Suddenly, there was a knock on the door.
"Meg, get that, would you?" her mother instructed. Meg nodded and opened the door. A blonde girl and a brown-haired boy Meg's age were at the door.
"Christine?" the blonde girl called out. Christine rushed to the door and a surprised smile came across her face.
"Countess Meg De Jean! It's so good to see you!" Christine said, throwing her arms around her friend's neck. Meg smiled and hugged Christine back. Noticing little Meg standing next to her, older Meg turned to Christine.
"Christine. . .is this your little angel you wrote about in your letters to me?" Meg asked. Christine nodded and smiled.
"This is Meg De Chany. Meg, meet my best friend, Countess Meg De Jean." Christine introduced them both. Both older and younger Meg smiled at the other one as they shook hands. Christine, noticing the handsome young man that had come in with older Meg, nodded to him.
"So, is this Raphael?" Christine inquired. Meg nodded.
"Five minutes to curtain!" called out Madame Giry, the dance instructor. Meg turned to her friend and said,
"Well, we're off to get our seats. Is Box Five still being kept empty?"
"I don't know. I haven't seen the Angel since Raoul and I returned from our honeymoon. Who knows if he's even. . ." her voice was cut short when Madame Giry called out that there was three minutes to curtain.
"Come along, Raphael. Nice to meet you, Meg and to see you again, Christine. Good luck tonight." With that, both Meg and Raphael disappeared.
"What Angel?" Meg asked her mother as they did their stretches together.
"No time to explain, Meg. We're on in a minute. I'll tell you after the ballet." And with that, there was no more talk of the Angel.
That evening, as Meg was wandering the halls of the Paris Opera House, she heard someone coughing. The owners of the theatre, Monsieurs Andre and Firmin, rushed out of Christine's dressing room.
"What's going on?" Meg inquired curiously.
"Your mother," Andre started, "is dying."
"Of what?" Meg asked.
"Fever." The gentlemen answered together.
"Oh my God. Can I see her?" Meg said.
"Follow me," Firmin motioned for Meg to follow them. They reached her mother's quarters and saw Raoul, older Meg, Raphael and the doctor all crowded around Christine's bed. Meg immeadtely ran to her mother's bedside.
"May I have a moment alone with my daughter?" Christine asked hoarsely. The others nodded and bid farewell to Christine. Raphael looked at Meg and smiled. Meg could feel herself blushing.
"Meg, when I am in heaven," Christine said, her voice barely above a whisper, "I will send the Angel of Music to watch over you. You will know him. . ." with that, her voice trailed off. Meg had tears streaming down her face.
"Mother. . .Mother. . .Mother?" Meg shoved the limp figure. When she could not revive her, she buried her face in her mother's chest and cried. A moment later, she felt a hand upon her shoulder. She turned around to see her father, staring down at her. He had tears streaming down his cheeks as well.
"Come, you have dance rehearsal. Let's not keep Madame Giry waiting." Meg tried to protest, but her father's grip was too strong. The two walked in silence until they reached the dance hall. Raoul held Meg in a tight hug for a moment before saying,
"If anything were to happen to you. . .I couldn't bare it. Goodbye, little Lottie." And with that, Raoul disappeared around a corner, cape billowing behind him. He probably wanted to be alone.
"Mademoiselle De Chany. You're late." A misty French accent came from behind her, startling her to death. Meg turned around and came face-to-face with her dance instructor, Madame Giry.
"I'm sorry, Madame," Meg started to apologize, but the dance instructor would not hear the rest. She led Meg by the arm to the stage where the dancers were warming up. As Meg began her stretches, a girl about her age walked over to her and smiled. She had shoulder-length blond hair and big hazel green eyes. A mask hid the right side of her face.
"I'm Rosalyn, but everyone calls me Rose. Who are you?" the girl asked.
"I'm Meg De Chany, everyone calls me Meg. What happened to your face?" before Rose could answer, Madame Giry told the twenty girls to get into their positions for rehearsal.
"Have you ever heard of an Angel of Music?" Meg asked Rose after dance recital. Rose shook her head sadly.
"Sorry, Meg. Why do you ask?"
"Before my mother died, she told me when she was in heaven, she would send me an Angel of Music. My mother's dead and I haven't seen an Angel yet. Don't you find that strange, Rose? Rose?" Meg looked around. Her friend had disappeared.
"There you are, little Lottie!" Raoul called out. Meg smiled as her father rushed towards her. After Meg told her father about her day, Raoul had an anxious look on his face.
"What is it, papa?" Meg asked, curiously.
"First, sing for me." Not wanting to disappoint her father, she did what she was told.
"Think of me
Think of me fondly
When we've said goodbye
Remember me every so often
Promise me you'll try. . ." Meg sang beautifully, hitting each note. Raoul beamed at his daughter. Then his expression turned serious.
"Secondly, I want you to stay away from a girl named Katherine. She is the daughter of my brother, Count Jean De Chany. I believe she's in your dance class."
"No father. There is no Katherine in my dance class. Maybe the class before or after, but not mine. I'll ask Madame Giry if she knows a Katherine."
Raoul smiled at his daughter. Since her mother died a month ago, they had formed a special bond that was yet to be broken.