Last chapter before I go to sleep. Hope you like it!
Disclaimer! I do not own PJO or HoO. I do not own the songs or lyrics in this chapter. Full credit goes to their composers.
Christine's POV
"You're doing well Chris. But sharpen your vowels. Stand tall. Try again," Calla said.
My friend was doing everything in her power to make sure my voice was ready. I was grateful to have a friend like her. I opened my mouth and sang. Babafemi, being the asshole he was, chose a theater song. To further my pain in losing Mother, as well as mock me. He despised musical theatre.
"I don't care which one you choose. Just make it theatre," he had said.
Calla shook her head at me again. "You're tensing up. Relax. Pretend it's just me here, okay? Now sing!"
I kept singing, going higher and higher until Calla screamed her last 'sing'. My hand flew to my throat. Did that sound come from me?
"That's what he needs to hear!" Calla exclaimed.
I smiled slightly. And sang again. I was to perform three songs of my choosing. Two up-tempo and one aria. I had only five more days. And I was practicing from dawn to dusk.
"Cal, can I take a break. If I keep singing like this I won't have a voice to use," I complained.
"Chris remember what is on the line."
I was about to answer my friend when a servant came through the room's door. He gave me a small scroll of papyrus and ran out. I opened it and sighed.
"What?" Calla asked.
"He wants me to do a piece that would be considered vaudeville trash, with a 'bump and grind' tone," I said, with fake enthusiasm.
It was mockery enough singing theatre when Mother's death was still fresh, to save my friends and family, and now he wanted me to be an "Oo-La-La Girl". I ripped the parchment and threw it on the ground.
"You must be angry to rip papyrus. Strength kicking in?"
"It's travesty! He's always hated me. Even when I was a babe. Why let me live? Why not kill me when I was a newborn? According to Kiya I was underweight and small and couldn't have survived! Yet I did. Why not end my life now and let you go?"
I threw myself on the ground and sat in front of the altar to Hathor. I felt like crying. Was this as far as my voice would take me? A final performance before I would die? Calla kept insisting I wasn't going to die, but I knew better. I looked at the ring Mother gave me for my fifteenth birthday. It was the ring that she gave to Femi, and when she died she gave it back and then she gave it to me. It was a simple silver band with small blue jades surrounding a small, but slightly larger, sapphire. One by one, he'd take the extras out and leave only Horus alive, despite his other sons and daughters. Sooner or later I'd be gone before my time and reunite with my brother, sister, and mother.
"Then should we rehearse Bathing Beauty?" I heard Calla say.
"Yeah. Bathing Beauty. Are the girls dancing and rehearsing?"
"Yep. They'll be just perfect. They fear for your life too."
I left at about sunset. My voice was going raw. Soon I wouldn't have a voice to use if I kept going like this. I clutched my necklace to my chest. The necklace, shell, and ring were all I had of my mother. I didn't even have a picture or carving. I hated being back here. Too many painful memories. But from what I knew from the world, the past never dies.
"Why can't the past just die?" I quietly sang to myself.
I was so caught up in the past that I didn't even notice Erik coming towards me. I actually bumped into him.
"Oh. Sorry. Lost in thought I guess," I whispered, not realizing who it was.
"Seriously? This was how we met. You day dreaming and walking straight into me," he said, "But I don't mind. If it means I get to see you more."
I looked up and saw Erik's beautiful eyes. I smiled sheepishly and continued walking with him. We held hands the whole time. It felt weird, holding hands with a boy who wasn't related to me. I was always weary of boys after what happened with my former betrothed. But Erik seemed like a sweet guy. He was passionate about his music, and writings. He lived and breathed music apparently.
"You can go hours without food?"
"Yeah. As long as I have an instrument I'm set. Even with all the noise at camp it feels quiet without music."
"Inspiration?"
"Haven't found anything yet. Or anyone," he said softly.
I found him intriguing. He knew who he was. A composer, a magician, an architect, a writer. He was so many things and I didn't know who I was. I didn't even know what I was. All I knew about myself was that I was a hollow shell of a person with nothing but a voice and her promises to keep her going. Yes I had family and friends but they didn't need a broken person in their lives. At moments I found myself longing to join my mother and siblings. To actually reunite with those I've lost. But that would mean leaving my brothers and Calla and… Erik.
"Christine?" Erik said, with concern.
"Yeah?"
"Could you sing for me? Not like you've been doing but just softly. Sweetly. Like you're singing a lullaby. I want to hear you before you destroy her voice singing for that bastard."
I nodded and obliged. I sang the lullaby Mother sang to me and the boys. Then I looked at him in the eyes and felt something in my chest. I sang one more song for him before I had to leave.
"Hands touch. Eyes meet.
Sudden silence, sudden heat.
Hearts leap, in a giddy whirl. He could be that boy.
But I'm not that girl.
Don't dream too far.
Don't lose sight of who you are.
Don't remember that rush of joy.
He could be that boy. I'm not that girl.
Every so often we long to steal to the land of what might have been.
But that doesn't soften the ache we feel when reality sets back in.
Blithe smile, lithe limb.
She who wins some, she wins him.
Gold hair with a gentle curl.
That's the girl he chose. And heaven knows.
I'm not that girl.
Don't wish. Don't start.
Wishing only wounds the heart.
I wasn't born for the rose and pearl.
There's a girl I know. He loves her so.
I'm not that girl."
We sat in silence for a few minutes. I could tell he was thinking about the song. I was thinking about how I wouldn't allow myself to get carried away. I had a duty to my family. I had to get Percy home to Annabeth and I had to keep the boys safe.
"Why do you sell yourself short?"
I looked at Erik. "What do you mean?"
"You're so serious all the time, yet I know you're sweet, gentle, kind and loving. You've been through so much, I get that it's hard boosting your self confidence up after that, but… You have so much going for you. You distance yourself away. I see it with your brothers. You may laugh and talk with them but you're always calculating when something's going to happen."
I looked away. Yes, I was distant from them. But I had to be. Hathor said I'd have a major role in my time here. And whether that meant I was to die keeping my promise, or live alone helping others, it would stay that way.
"I must go. I start at dawn again. Uh… Goodnight, Erik," I whispered. I stood and left.
'I sing the final notes of my ballad. The audience applauds me, even the king. He dismisses everyone except for my friends and myself. I step towards my brothers but am stopped by a knife to their throats.
"You swore!" I scream.
The king laughs. "I did not say that I swear. I said 'I do'. Doesn't count. I can change the game whenever I want. Make sure of that next time Kamilah."
He unsheathes his sword and steps toward Calla. He cuts her down within seconds. I am unable to move. He cuts down Shay. Then Erik, and sister. He decapitates Horus and moves to Percy.
"A handsome young man. Have anyone special?"
"The love of my life waits for me back home," Percy says.
"I'll send her an apology note," the king says.
The king thrusts his sword towards Percy's chest. I scream and lunge myself between the blade and my brother. The pain hurts but subsides. The king walks away after that, saying that we are free to go.
"Chrissy, you're going to be fine. I promise. It's not that bad," Percy says hastily. He has knelt down to apply pressure to the wound. He looms over me; sweat building above his brow. I smile the weakest of smiles.
"Percy. The real pendant is in my pocket. Take it and wear it with pride," I murmur.
"No! You keep wearing it. The wound is already closing."
"Percy-"
"NO! You're going to live Christine. Don't you dare give up on me. I wish I could make this heal faster."
I pity and love my brother at the same time. He knows as well as I that I'm as good as gone.
"Percy. Listen to me," I moan. With what little strength and breath I have I sing the final words Christine Daae sings to her son and the Phantom.
"Look with your heart and not with your eyes.
The heart understands. The heart never lies.
Believe… what it feels. And trust what it shows.
Look with your heart, the heart always knows.
Love is... not always beautiful. Not at the start.
So open your arms and close your eyes… tight.
Look with your heart.
And when it finds…love…"
I feel a wave of dizziness wash over me and I feel compelled to let go but I have to get through my last words. Percy keeps muttering that I'm going to go back to New York with him.
"Percy."
"What?"
"Come closer. I beg you."
He leans down a bit so that our foreheads are touching.
"Closer still."
He adjusts his position so that he's on his side and our noses almost touch. I look him dead in the eyes, full of sadness and regret.
"Remember, love never dies.
Hold me one last time."
He sits up again and squeezes me again his chest. I smiled a bit. He whispers that he wishes he could change the outcome of what happened. So I sing again.
"Don't wish. Don't start.
Wishing only wounds the heart.
There's a girl I know. You love her so.
Return to her."
I can't hold on any longer. I look outside an archway and see the river Nile. I smile and whisper with my last breath.
"The Nile, Percy. I can see the river."
"I can too. Don't worry. I'll get you there and it will heal you."
"No. This was my destiny. I'm happy to have fulfilled it."
I stare at the river as my ka leaves my physical body. As a ka, I kiss Percy's forehead and whisper a thank you for loving me and being there. For being my brother. I see he's crying. I look to my right and see Anubis. I happily take his hand and travel to the Underworld.'
So did you guys like it? Please review. Goodnight