Ok, here is Chapter 8!
THIS IS THE EPILOGUE!
Enjoy!
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Clarice
Erik and I went back to the lair, where we talked and kissed for a little while. The others never looked for us. When it was time for me to go, Erik smiled and put something around my neck, then put something in my hand. The thing in my hand was the ring that Christine had.
What he had around my neck, well…now Erik and I had a secret engagement of our own.
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Still Clarice
The managers, now seeing the Phantom in person, went along with his demands, and put me in the role of Aminta. Rehearsals began, and I was actually excited. Madame Giry smiled at me one day and said,
"You have changed a great deal Clarice."
I realized that she was right. I had changed, hadn't I? I was smiling a lot more, I talked to people more, I made some new friends, and all of my previous self doubts were gone. And I laughed to myself as I understood why when I looked into my secret future husband's eyes one day.
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I stood there, opening night, backstage, waiting for my part. I took deep breaths, and then I came on.
"No thoughts within her head but thoughts of joy,
"No dreams within her heart but dreams of love!"
I waited for Piangi's voice to ring out, but instead I head another.
I bit back a smile. I knew that voice anywhere.
Erik.
(A/N: ok, I'm just going to skip to the last part of the song, because I'm just too lazy to write the other lyrics XD)
We walked towards each other, our voices blending perfectly and echoing throughout the opera house.
"Past the Point of No Return,
"The final threshold…"
We embraced, and Erik held me in a possessive backwards hold.
"The bridge is crossed!
"So stand, and watch it burn!
"We've Past the Point of No, Return…"
The song that I had loved the moment I first read it when I met Erik for the first time rang out from my throat with ease. We continued through the opera, and afterwards everyone had a magnificent party, giving sighs and smiles of relief. Apparently, everyone thought something bad was going to happen, like the chandelier crashing to the ground! (A/N: Lolz, this is where the AU part really comes in, eh? Ok, you could at least fake laugh at that one...)
Erik and I met secretly in a dark corner of the room. We kissed, and no one noticed, as one, as I mentioned before, we were in the shadows, and two, Erik had a hood over his head. I had the chain that held the ring he gave me around my neck once more. It could be on my pinkie toe and still feel right.
We snuck out of the opera house, and Erik smiled at me as we walked down the streets together, enjoying the night.
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Normal POV
Clarice and Erik married only a week after Don Juan Triumphant. Christine and Raoul married a little later. Meg was the Maid of Honor for Clarice's wedding, as she had said to Christine that she had called it first.
Clarice gave birth to a beautiful baby girl, and she was named Belle, for she had Erik's beautiful eyes, and Clarice's black hair and ivory skin.
The two lovers died at obscenely old age. They both died on the same night in the same time frame, as two soul mates cannot be separated for long.
Some say that if you go into the Opera Populaire now, if you just stand there and listen, you can hear two voices, perfectly blended, singing the eternal song of their love.
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The end! Yay!
Ok, kind of a cheesy ending, but whatever. Review please, and thanks for those who reviewed previously! I hope to see your reviews in my next Phantom fic! See yah!
