Chapter 14: The Phantom's Story
1 year later
" So, you truly were the Phantom?" an old woman asked
Erik looked at the old woman and nodded. He wiped his hands on a cloth as he sat by a fire, which welcomed him.
" Erik, my boy you are quite the story teller," she laughed
" You are a blind old woman, do you not see my face?" Erik questioned
" I see the true beauty inside Erik, not this so called monster you call yourself, but again what do I know," the old woman said
Erik looked at her as she walked off and Erik stared at the fire. His hair pushed back and tucked under a black wig. His face made up to only look like scratches on his disfigured face. He almost looked perfect, but there was something that made him different from everyone else…that was his heart.
" I use to believe in ghost stories, my favorite was the Phantom of the Opera. Though I knew he wasn't a ghost, but a man who loved from his heart," a voice said
Erik looked up and then slowly turned and looked at a young woman before him. Her blonde hair was pulled back into a braid and her face made up to suit her beauty.
" Do you want to know why I don't believe in them now?" she asked
Erik stood up and looked at the young woman, her eyes sparkled with hope.
" Tell me why?" he whispered
" Because I knew his heart was to pure to be a ghost," she said
Erik walked to her and touched her face and she touched his face.
" Little Giry, this is indeed a surprise," Erik whispered
" Erik, though you left Paris a year ago, your legend still lives and so does your heart in both my mother and I," she whispered
She leaned her head into his hand and placed a hand on his. She turned her head and kissed it and Erik felt her softness.
" Fate is blind when one is fond of another, Erik I have lost you once, but I won't lose you again," Meg said
Erik turned away and looked at the fire.
" Once upon a time, there was a haunted palace, one a powerful sultan lived in. His people were happy, but yet there were some that apposed him. He promised the people he would marry a young woman who would change him. He had until his 35th birthday and on the eve of his 33rd year he found a maiden. Her voice so beautiful and kind, but there was another…she was as beautiful as that one. He had to make a choice, when he choose the first one he made her stay in his palace for four days…one thing made this young maiden afraid of him and that was his face. His face was of a demon and an angel, the people who adored him assured the maiden that his face would be covered. When the four days were up he released her and she returned to the palace once every two months. The sultan fell in love with this maiden, but found she was in love with a nobleman. He had him arrested and had the maiden brought to him. He made her chose her lover or him…if she chose him her lover would be free, but if not her lover would be killed. The maiden did not choose him, but she sacrificed her self to show this sultan compassion. He released her that night on the eve of his 35th birthday and the people came to hunt him. He found away to escape and fled his palace, with the help of his dearest friend," Erik told the story
" What about the second maiden? What happened to her?" Meg asked
Erik turned around and wiped his face and slowly the disguise vanished to reveal his true face. Meg looked at him and Erik reached out and touched her face.
" The maiden he did not choose gained up all her courage to find the sultan. She searched high and low for him and then when all hope was lost," Erik continued then paused
Meg looked at him and looked into his eyes finding what would happen next. Erik let his hand drop and Meg looked at him.
" She found him in a small home outside his kingdom. She told him she missed his stories of great adventures, but the sultan did not recognize her. Her tattered linings made her look as though she was a commoner, but when she removed her veil the sultan knew who she was. He knew that it was her, the one who helped him so many times, the maiden who would save him," Erik said
Meg touched Erik's face and then kissed him and Erik returned the kiss. Their lips remained locked for what seemed to be eternity. She pulled away and Erik opened his eyes to her.
" Sultan, come build your palace again, said the maiden," Meg said
" My palace no longer exist replied the sultan, but perhaps someday it will rise again," Erik said
" Then let us build an empire," Meg said
Erik kissed her again and this time Erik pulled her closer, the endless minuet turned into more than a minuet.
" Oh, Erik," she whispered
Erik looked at her as she studied his face, she kissed his hands.
" Take me Erik," she said, " take me as your queen…I have only fallen in love with you. You loved me since the first moment you laid eyes on me. You gave me a name which no other knows."
Erik breathed deep and came to his knees and Meg looked at him. Her eye filled with tears as he took her hand.
" Then let it be done, let my palace be built again," Erik said, " for the love in my heart is greater than the darkness. It is all thanks to your mother young Giry."
" Erik," she said, " I have loved you since your voice spoke my name."
Erik looked at her and kissed her hand, there he pulled a different ring than the one Christine gave him.
" Then today young Giry, I take you ask my queen," Erik said
He slipped the ring on her finger and rose to kiss his bride to be.
" Now and always I promise you my life my king, my emperor, my sultan," Meg whispered
Antoinette nodded to the coachman and the carriage started off.
" His story lives on," Antoinette said, " The sultan and his queen will be immortalized. Let this story be told and let it become truth for the Phantom of the Opera has found true peace."
THE END
