A/N #1: All right, people... the end is near. Very near. We're very much near the end.
A/N #2: All right - this chapter has a decent title! It's called 'Public Plea'. But, if you want to be boring, then call it 'Genius's Mistake, Act Three'.
Disclaimer: I still don't own the names Satine and Christian (from Moulin Rouge!). And since Genius's Mistake is, once again, a bunch of songs thrown together, I don't own one song: Come What May (from Moulin Rouge!). I also don't own Erik's version of All I Ask Of You (the one he sings at the end of The Point Of No Return), which I had to revise a little to make sense. (That should tell you what happens here.)
A/N #3: So you don't get confused, Christine's singing is italics, Cameron's singing is bold, and both of them are bold and italics.
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Fifteen minutes later, the operagoers entered the auditorium and took their seats for the third and final act of Genius's Mistake.
Christine quickly walked over to a side trapdoor, where Marie was going to be taking her place in a moment. After a few seconds, Marie arrived, and she instantly put the Punjab around her neck. Marie gagged and resisted, but her neck eventually snapped.
"Sorry, Mademoiselle Marie," she said, dropping her body on the floor quietly. "This is my act."
"Ladies and gentlemen," a voice announced, "put your hands together one last time for Genius's Mistake!" The audience applauded.
The lights dimmed onstage. Then an evil - sounding chord was struck on the organ again. The lights came up, and 'Demeaior' came onstage. Some guards dressed in black came onstage on the other side and met him in the center of the stage.
"Well?" demanded 'Demeaior'. "Have you found her?"
"We caught sight of her not all that long ago," one of the guards said, "but she got away." His voice got lower as he moved in closer to 'Demeaior'. "She was dressed in white, sir... I do believe that she's transformed into an angel."
"What?" shouted 'Demeaior'. "No! She can't become an angel... we must bring her back to where she belongs... and she will be mine!" Then he stormed offstage, and the guards followed him.
After a moment, 'Christian', or Cameron, came onstage on the side opposite Christine. He then sat on the floor, waiting for 'Satine' to come onstage once the music started.
Christine took a deep breath. Then the music for the song started, and she walked onstage.
Cameron had his back turned to her, so he couldn't see that it was she. She walked over to him and stood over where he was sitting. Then, after a moment, she started singing.
Never knew
I could feel like this -
Like I've never seen the sky
Before...
Want to vanish
Inside your kiss...
Every day I love you more
And more...
Cameron turned to where she was standing and rose. His eyes widened. Christine! What was she doing here?
But she ignored his fearful looks as she kept singing.
Listen to my heart -
Can you hear? It sings,
Tellin' me to give you everything...
Seasons may change,
Winter to spring...
But I love you
Until the end of time
Come what may...
Come what may...
I will love you
Until my dying day...
Cameron took a deep breath, then started singing as Francois and Emilie watched, aware that 'Satine' was not Marie.
Suddenly the world
Seems such a perfect place...
Suddenly it moves
With such a perfect grace...
Suddenly my life doesn't seem
Such a waste...
It all revolves around you...
And there's no mountain too high,
No river too wide...
Sing out this song
And I'll be there by your side...
Storm clouds may gather,
And stars may collide...
But I love you (I love you)
Until the end
Of time (Until the end of time)
Come what may...
Come what may...
I will love you
Until my dying day
Oh, come what may...
Come what may...
I will love you...
Oh, I will love you...
Suddenly the world
Seems such a perfect place...
Come what may...
Come what may...
I will love you
Until my dying day...
As the music ended, the audience applauded, and Cameron and Christine wrapped their arms around each other. They closed their eyes, and Cameron rested his cheek on the top of her head. Everyone who worked in the Opera - now aware of who was playing 'Satine' - watched nervously.
As Christine kept her eyes closed, Cameron opened his for a brief moment and saw Emilie motioning to him on the side of the stage to get his attention. He looked up at her.
"Do you want me to get the police?" Emilie mouthed to him.
He shook his head and rested his cheek on top of Christine's head again for a moment, suddenly feeling angered and betrayed. Christine had lied to him! She'd promised to stay underground - and she'd lied! He suddenly felt growing hatred towards her. She couldn't be trusted; he didn't love her.
Christine continued to stay in his embrace, wanting him to hold her forever. It was time to see if he would. She sang softly:
Say you'll share with me
One love...
One lifetime...
Lead me, save me
From my solitude...
Say you want me with you
Here...
Beside you...
She broke away from him and looked up into his eyes hopefully as she finished, taking one of his hands in hers. Cameron placed his free hand on her cheek.
Anywhere you go,
Let me go too!
Cameron,
That's all I ask of -
But before she could finish, Cameron pulled her mask off, allowing the operagoers and the Opera employees to see her deformity. Horrified reactions came from every corner.
She looked up at him, betrayed and anguished, feeling as though her world was crumbling around them. He'd betrayed her! He'd shown her face to the world!
He looked at her for another moment, then shook his head and turned away from her, slowly starting to walk away.
She stared at him for a moment, then looked around and saw that the police were heading down towards the stage, coming for her. She looked up at the ceiling, where the chandelier was. Then she looked at Cameron, who was still making his way offstage. She knew what she must do.
Without another moment's hesitation, she grabbed Cameron, who was an arm's length away from her, roughly by the arm.
"No!" he gasped, struggling. "No!"
She pulled a small dagger that she'd hidden in her shoe out and quickly cut a nearby rope, which was attatched to the chain that held up the chandelier. Then she ran over to the trapdoor that was 'Hell', stomped on it, and fell through, down to the passageway that she used to go to her lair. Then she started dragging Cameron along with her.
After another moment, the chandelier started falling, and the horrified operagoers screamed and ran out of the auditorium. When the chandelier fell, it caught fire, and soon the Opera would be all in flames once again, just as it had been fifty - six years before.
Emilie, having observed all of this with horror, quickly ran onstage, looking first to see where Marie was. After a moment, she found her sister, lying dead on the floor, the Punjab lasso around her neck.
She thought quickly. She had to find Christine and Cameron. She didn't know where Christine lived - hardly anybody did. There were only three people that knew where she lived - Christine herself, Cameron, and...
Francois Jannes. She looked up in the flies and saw Francois, frantically looking for something. She ran up into the flies.
"Jannes!" she exclaimed, grabbing him by the arm.
Francois looked up at her. "Mademoiselle Chastain," he said hurriedly, nodding. "What is it? I'm very busy."
"Where is she?" she demanded. "Where has Christine taken him? Where does she live? I know you know!"
He rose and stuck a pistol in his belt. "I cannot tell you that, Mademoiselle Chastain," he said. "It would not be safe for you to go."
"But she took Cameron!" she pleaded. "Please - she might kill him! I'm afraid for him, Jannes... she might be in a horrid temper! I've got to stop her!"
"Where do you think I am going?" said Francois, brushing past her. "I'm going to stop her before she makes a big mistake. But I might not make it in time..." He started looking worried as he started walking towards the dressing room with the mirror. "... I'm an old man, and I walk too slowly for something like this."
"Let me go ahead of you," she said quickly, starting to walk with him. "Tell me how I can get to where she lives, and I'll stop her in time. I'm faster than you. I can make it."
Francois stopped walking. "All right, listen very carefully," he said quickly. "Go to the dressing room with the huge mirror - the one that your fiance is always in. Open the mirror, and you will see a passageway. Go down the passageway, and you'll eventually come to where she lives." He pressed his hands against hers. "And may God be with you. Go!"
Without another moment's hesitation, she quickly started walking to the dressing room with the mirror.