AN: Here you go - last chapter! And the best one, if I do say so myself. I even tossed in Prima Donna at the end for the heck of it. is not cooperating with me at the moment, so I was not able to use the QuickEdit feature but I was so proud to have finished this story that I didn't want to keep you good folks in suspense any longer, so I will post it as is. I apologize for any errors or irregularities in advance. Enjoy.

Chapter 10: The Finale!

Javert: I'm feeling oddly nicer at the moment…medication must be kicking in…

The group minus Erik gathers around Raoul and Christine. Erik is about to slip unnoticed out one of the many exits in his lair, when he is stopped by one of Javert's deputies who is running in, no doubt sent by Mssrs. Andre and Firmin. The deputy drags him to the boss.

Deputy: Tell Inspector Jav your story

Let us see if he's impressed (turns to Javert)

He's been lodging here for ages and he's never been a guest!

And then out of your heart's goodness

When you fought here in the night

He maintains you let him walk free from the skirmish

Javert: That is right.

(Everyone's jaws drop, including Erik's.)

Javert: (turning to Erik) But my friend, you left so early

Surely something slipped your mind

We forgot to strike our bargain

Would you leave business behind?

(to Deputy) So monsieur, you may release him

For this man has spoken true

I commend you for your duty

And my blessing goes with you

(Deputy leaves. Everyone is still awestruck.)

Javert: (to Erik) But remember this, dear Phantom

You must now remain unseen

You must use your precious freedom

To stay far away from me!

(pointing) By the witness of these rebels

Of the Viscount and Miss Daae,

If again I ever see you,

I assure you, you will pay.

I'm getting too old for this.

Javert leaves.

Erik:
What have I done?
Sweet Jesus, what have I done?
Become a thief in the night,
Become a dog on the run
And have I fallen so far,
And is the hour so late
That nothing remains but the cry of my hate,
The cries in the dark that nobody hears,
Here where I stand at the turning of the years?

If there's another way to go
I missed it twenty long years ago
My life was a war that I thought had been won
When I escaped from my cage and became the Phantom
When I thought I would be free from them
But they've hunted me down once again

How can I now allow this man
To hold dominion over me?
I am the desperate man he hunted
He gave me my life
He gave me freedom
He let me walk out with my life
Can such things be?
For I had come to hate the world
This world that always hated me

Take an eye for an eye!
Turn your heart into stone!
This is all I have lived for!
This is all I have known!

One word from him and I'd be back
Inside my cage, upon the rack
Instead he offers me my freedom
I feel my shame inside me like a knife
And must I now begin to doubt,
Who never doubted all these years?
My heart is stone and still it trembles
The world I have known is lost in shadow.

Is he from heaven or from hell?
And does he know
That granting me my life today
This man has killed me even so?

I am reaching, but I fall
And the night is closing in
And I stare into the void
To the whirlpool of my sin
I'll escape now from the world
From the world of the Phantom
The Opera Ghost is nothing now
Another story must begin!

He vanishes, and his mask falls to the ground. Les Amis plus the other people are astonished.

Enjolras: Hmm.. I thought he was the tortured artist type.

Meg Giry enters the lair and slowly looks around. Everyone watches as she picks up the mask and begins to sing.

Meg:
There's a grief that can't be spoken.
There's a pain goes on and on.

(Walks over to the Phantom's table)

An empty chair at empty table
Now the Opera Ghost is gone.

Here he talked about his operas.
Here it was he lit the flame.
Here he sang about tomorrow'
And tomorrow never came.

From the piano in the corner
He could write a song reborn
And he rose with his voice ringing

Christine: I can hear him now!
The very words that he had sung

Meg: Became his last communion
In this lair before the dawn.

Enjolras: Oh my friends, my friends forgive me
That we chased him from his song.

Meg: There's a grief that can't be spoken.
There's a pain goes on and on.

Raoul: Phantom faces at the mirror.
Phantom shadows on the floor.

Meg: Empty chair at empty table
Where the Phantom sings no more.

Christine: Oh Phantom, Phantom, don't ask me
What your suffering was for

All: Empty chair at empty table
Where the Phantom sings no more.

Meg sets the mask down. Raoul approaches Les Amis.

Raoul: Merci beaucoup for your help, Messieurs.

Enjolras: De rien. It's nothing. But now, Monsieur and Mesdemoiselles, if you will excuse us, we must be going. I believe that we still have an Act and a half to get through. Come, comrades!

Les Amis: Prima donnas
The rebels of the stage!
Our devotees
are on their knees
to implore us !
Can we bow out
when they're shouting
our names?
Think of how they all
adore us!
Prima donnas
enchant them once again!
Think of your muse . . .
And of the queues
round the theatre!
Can you deny them the triumph
in store?
Sing, prima donnas, once more!... Les Amis leave the lair as they sing, followed by Christine, Raoul, and Meg. The lair is plunged into darkness, with one solitary beam of light shining on the white mask on the floor.

THE END / LE FIN

AN: If you have taken the time to read this whole story, I thank you for your support and interest. This is my first finished fanfic EVER. Reviews are always welcomed and appreciated. I apologize for the unusually long chapter, but there just wasn't a good place to split it, and it's nice to have a story end evenly on ten chapters. I hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it. Merci beaucoup, mes amis!