The Crystal Rainbow
An Alternate Universe – Phantom of the Opera Story
Nyasia A. Maire
© 2007
DISCLAIMER: I do not hold the rights nor did I create any characters found in The Phantom of the Opera or Phantom, nor have I received monetary compensation for writing this story.
A family provides the foundation upon which the soul stands tall.
A soul without firm ground underfoot is doomed to fall.
A Fool's Book of Wisdom
Chapter Six – Grounded
Erik watched as Helen drew the girl under the calming spell of her voice. Outwardly, he seemed his normal, placid self, but inwardly, his tumultuous thoughts blazed.
"Those eyes! I know those eyes and those curls, but it cannot be! She is not real. She exists only in my dreams. And, yet, here she is. My angel and Helen's niece are one in the same. How can this be?"
◊ ○ ◊ ○ ◊
Christine listened to the woman as she prattled on and on about nothing. The girl smiled and nodded, but her mind roiled with the turmoil she felt over the presence of Helen's masked companion. He had not spoken a word, yet, Christine felt his eyes burning into her as he watched her every move. Her mind split in two, one part seemed to pay attention to Helen and the stunned other part, focused intently upon the man sitting quietly at the table.
"Erik! I cannot believe this! Once, years ago, I waited for you to come to me. I sat and waited for you never doubting that you would come for me. Yet, each day dawned and found me without you by my side. And, one lonely morning, I heard a sound. It was the sound of splintering glass, but it was no mirror, which cracked, but my heart. And, each day you did not come to me, the fracture, which ran through my heart, grew ever wider and deeper. Until, at last, with the death of my father, my heart despaired and broke in two. Afterwards, I allowed myself to think of you as nothing more than a childish dream. You are a dream! Damn you! I needed you and you did not come! You did not come for me. How dare you come for me now! How dare you …."
A gentle voice interrupted her raging thoughts and she blinked.
"I … oh, pardon moi, what did you say?"
Christine stammered and bit her lip as she felt hot color flood her cheeks.
"And, where is it that you would go in the middle of the night, Mademoiselle?"
The older woman softly inquired.
The young woman drew her body up to stand straight, tall and proud. Erik shuddered slightly in recognition of the wall he saw lowering before her bright, warm eyes. A wall, which when in place, left them cold and dull, as it imprisoned the spirit of his angel.
"While your implied concern for my welfare is appreciated, I fail to see how it is any concern of yours. My business is mine and mine alone, Madame."
Christine's smile appeared as brittle as frost on a window pane. Yet, the old woman seemed little affected by her words and continued speaking in her oddly lulling voice.
"Dearest child therein lays the fallacy of your words. We share this earth and, therefore, we share the responsibility to care for one another. Did no one teach you this lesson? We must be our brother's keeper, lest we fall into the hell of Cain. I simply seek assurance that you shall be safe upon the road you travel. Erik and I leave on the eve of tomorrow and I thought that if our ways coincided, we might journey together. Where could the harm be in that?"
The ice melted from the girl's lips and she frowned slightly. Her eyes inadvertently slipped to Erik before darting away to stare into the darkness of the corridor. A voice spoke from within her heart and Christine strained to hear the words, but she could not decipher them and they remained elusively just beyond her mind's grasp. She shrugged slightly.
"There is no harm in that, Madame. Please excuse my rudeness, but I do not know you. I thought it is better to err on the side of caution, so with that in mind, I gave you my guarded answer. I travel to Paris, where I intend to audition for the chorus at the Opera Populaire. To sing upon the stage there was a dream I shared with my Papa and now that I have grown into a woman, I plan to make that dream a reality. Where do your travels take you?"
Helen's mouth softened into a toothy grin.
"Why, our destination is Paris as well, but first I believe introductions are clearly in order. I am Madame Helen and my young companion is Monsieur Erik de Seul."
The woman swept her arm towards the man at the table and he briefly inclined his head to acknowledge the introduction, but remained silently seated at the table. Christine's eyes turned and met the young man's intense look. The moment their eyes locked, Christine felt a burning flare deep within the center of her chest, one, which threatened to overpower her mind. She quickly returned her gaze to the woman and found much to her dismay, her heart was pounding and her breath was ragged in her throat.
"My name is …."
Her voice croaked and she grimaced at the raw sound. Christine winced as she felt her cheeks burn crimson. She paused and cleared her throat.
"I am Christine Daae and I am pleased to make your acquaintance, Madame. Monsieur."
She bobbed a slight curtsey before turning to retrieve her bag from the floor. Placing it on her shoulder, she smiled woodenly.
"Now, if you will excuse me. I must be on my way. It was a pleasure meeting the both of you. Perhaps, one day, we shall meet again. Bonsoir."
Without waiting for a response, Christine turned and began to flee from the kitchen toward the comforting darkness outside the chateau. One step. Two steps. Just as she raised her foot to take a third, a familiarly beautiful voice called to her.
"Mademoiselle, wait!"
Her foot fell to the floor and while her mind screamed for her to run, her body refused to obey. She turned to find the young man standing just behind her.
"How could he move so quickly? How did he leave the table without making a sound? Oh! Erik! How I have missed you!"
She shook her head to clear that last thought from her mind then tilting her head to one side, she placed the hand not holding her bag, onto her hip.
"Well? You have something you wish to say to me, Monsieur?"
He licked his lips nervously and turned his pleading eyes to Helen. The older woman read the silent entreaty in his gaze. She took pity upon the young man and stepped into the conversation.
"What my young friend here wishes to say is that as all of us seem intent on traveling to Paris, why not travel there together? We planned to leave tomorrow evening, but since you seem determined to leave as soon as possible, if you do not object, we would be most pleased to alter our plans and accompany you on your journey tonight. While I am certain you, are quite capable of taking care of yourself. Would it not be preferable and safer to travel amongst companions?"
Christine carefully considered the woman's words and she could find no hidden fault in them.
"I know Helen speaks the truth. I know it is not proper for a young, unmarried and unchaperoned woman to travel alone. I have no idea what the world outside these walls is like. The last time I traveled beyond them, I was a child and I had my Papa. Oh! In many ways, I suppose I still am a naïve little girl. Humph! I am a naïve little girl in a woman's body! I thought this would be so simple. How have things become so complicated, so quickly? Oh! What should I do, Papa? Should I refuse them or should I go with them?"
The young woman sighed as her shoulders sagged.
"I suppose I really have no choice. To refuse their company would be foolish."
"Oui. It would be safer traveling in a group than for me to travel alone. Therefore, I accept your offer. Merci."
The young woman blinked in surprise as the older woman spun about on her heels and giddily clapped her hands. The older woman's youthful exuberance delighted Christine with its unaffected charm and brought a smile to the girl's unaware lips.
"Excellent! We must retrieve our belongings, but that should not take but ten minutes. We travel very light. First, we must clear the table and set this room to rights …."
Christine interrupted and made a shooing motion with her hands.
"No need for you to do that! Go! Collect your things! I shall tend to the kitchen. That way I shall have something to occupy my time, while you fetch your things and we can leave here that much sooner. Now, off with the both of you! Go on … shoo!"
The girl chuckled at the surprise in the young man's gleaming eyes.
"Maybe it was not his fault. After all, he was just a boy. Maybe …."
◊ ○ ◊ ○ ◊
A mere quarter of an hour later, the three travelers slipped through the doors of the chateau and into the night. Erik watched the girl from the corner of his eyes as she leaned her head back and drank in the crisp night air. It seemed to the bewitched young man that with each passing footfall, Christine's step became lighter and the shadow that hovered around her thinned.
"If she continues in this way, she shall become as clear glass and float away on the breeze."
He blushed at the strange feeling his thought brought to his body and tried to shift his mind away from the lithe young woman walking next to him.
The three walked along in a silence, which strained to break into speech. Helen, as always, filled the night with her lovely voice.
"So, Christine, do you have a place to stay in Paris?"
The girl answered before her mind allowed her to ponder the question too carefully.
"No. I thought to find a room in a boarding house and then, I hoped that if offered a position in the chorus, I would stay in the opera house's dormitories. As a last resort, an old acquaintance of my Papa's works as the Ballet Mistress at the Opera Populaire. I thought I would ask for her assistance if a position is not open in the chorus, but I do not wish to dwell on that possibility until it is necessary."
She gave a nervous laugh.
"But, here I go on and on with my silly plans when a simple 'no' would answer your question."
Helen's mouth took on an amused smirk before casually remarking.
"Well, I own a cottage on the eastern side of Paris. For all of my outgoing nature, I am a woman that appreciates her privacy and my home reflects that. Deep within the Bois de Vincennes it lies. Yes, I know. That area is a public park. How is it possible to have a home there? Well, it has belonged to my family for many generations. Can you imagine? Napoleon III attempted to decree the place I call home part of his public park. His bureaucrats threatened to evict me from my home, but my family holds title to that little plot of land in perpetuity. So long as one of us draws breath, it remains our property. Napoleon Bonaparte bequeathed the property to my grandmother and not even Napoleon III dares to revoke an edict issued by his beloved uncle. So as long as one of my lineage lives, the cottage is ours. There are two of us left. And as I am hale and hearty and the other is quite young, there is hope that the land shall remain with our family for many years to come."
She paused to take a breath and chuckled softly.
"Oh! I am a long-winded old bat. Am I not, Erik?"
He shook his head and rolled his eyes.
"Oui. And, not only long-winded, but notoriously susceptible to losing the point of your conversation."
He paused.
"The point of your rambling monologue being …."
When Helen shrugged and did not speak, Erik put a hand to his temple and rubbed it a moment before he continued.
"Very well. I shall refresh your memory. You inquired as to the Mademoiselle's lodging arrangements and then spoke of your home. Does that help you recall the point?"
The folds of the woman's wrinkled face creased deeper and her toothy smile glistened in the moonlight.
"Ah yes. Merci, Erik. My point being … I have an empty bedroom and you are in need of a place to stay. Christine, I would be most pleased if you would allow me to offer you the use of this room. While Erik is a good listener, he is still a man. It would be a pleasant change to have a woman to keep me company. Of course, I understand that you intend to audition for a position with the opera, but until you can make other arrangements, I would like you to consider my offer. You need not give me an answer now. Just think about it. You have the entire trip to Paris to mull it over."
Christine smiled and nodded at Helen.
"I promise I shall give it due consideration. It is a very generous offer, Madame. Merci."
Once again, the three continued walking. However, the once strained silence had given way to a comfortable, companionable one.
"Strange that I find her offer oddly exciting. Normally, I would dismiss it out of hand and run as fast and as faraway as I could, but I am sorely tempted to take her up on her offer. I feel oddly comfortable around Helen. I find that I like her. She makes me feel as if I have known her for a very long time. And … I wonder … Oh dear! I wonder if Erik lives with her."
Author's Note: Well, here you go! I'm on the mend, but still have a horrific headache. Writing helps as I get to hear the soothing voices of Erik and Helen in my head…hmmm…maybe I'm still feverish… ☺ Fondest wishes, --ny