Author's Note: Drabble inspired by my fascination with the maternal if not slightly Oedipus undertones in the relationship of Mme Giry and Erik. Take it as you will. Based off the film/musical.
Pieces
Pieces of himself he never wanted burst into a thousand drops of silver rain, and crash to the ground into bits of grit. The final mirror cracks, and it is then that he knows he may leave. That he must leave. With a graceless effort he finishes, and Erik turns once more to the underworld he will leave behind. A shallow lake. Red velvet surrounded by hundreds of twinkling lights; stars, he named them, as a boy. Erik has made his own stars, all these years, as the world would never share their beauty with one like him. His music will stay, with the heart he never learned to use. The curtain falls. His reign has ended, and he steps through the mirror.
"A broken mirror," She is there. Always there, ageless and graceful in her quiet courage. It has withstood the assault the terrible years have brought on them both, as Madame Giry has always known it would. Erik, wretched with tears and no mask to hide behind, smiles at the sound of her. She turns to lead him through his passage way. "Seven years bad luck, you know."
"How long have you been here?" He does not know. The Phantom of the Opera set down his guard.
"I have been here all the time," Mme. Giry says simply, and when they are far enough to ensure safety she turns to him, her painted eyes pink with old tears. "A carriage awaits you, far from here. I will go with you until we reach it. Then you are on your own, do you understand?" He understands. He always has. Madame Giry regards him quietly a moment more, her eyes pale and on the disfigured side of his face as if she had seen it for the first time. The light in her expression changes, as if she is looking past it, at something entirely different and far away. The torch in her tapering fingers is held carefully, as she watches him. "I have always known that you were made for magnificence, Erik," her words are soft, but never straying from the strength she always carries in her tone. "But that is not why I have loved you." She breathes in. "Now are you ready?"