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.
Knowledge casts illumination into the darkest corners of the mind,
leaving no hiding place for the despair of ignorance.
A Fool's Book of Wisdom
Chapter Seventeen – Illumination
A sound, which imitated almost in miniature the clap of thunder resounded through the bedroom as the door slammed open and smacked into the wall.
Christine screeched and Erik quickly pulled the bed sheets over their heaving bodies.
"What the fuck?" Erik snarled.
Helen calmly walked into the room, ignoring Erik's furious look and Christine's abject embarrassment.
"Exactly …. What the fuck is exactly what cannot go on here and we need to talk about this right now!"
Erik's amber orbs blazed with a fury that Helen had never witnessed before, but she could understand the reason for it. If it were not for the fact that his actions had placed his life in a rather precarious position, Helen would have found the entire situation amusing and she would have left the two young lovers to their own devices. However, the peculiarities of the power of Christine's heritage changed things in a way that could cause devastating consequences to any man she joined in sexual congress. A fact that Helen knew all too well, so she impassively met Erik's volcanic gaze. When the man did not back down, her eyes narrowed as she considered an alternate course. After a moment, she made a decision and spoke.
"I will allow the two of you a few moments to collect yourselves, but I expect the both of you in the parlor in ten minutes. No dilly-dallying and, most importantly, no putting Nebuchadnezzar out to grass¹!"
Christine gasped at Helen's crude comment and Erik gave a wordless growl at the old woman. And, without another word, she strode from the room, slamming the door behind her.
◊ ○ ◊ ○ ◊
"Oh! She probably believes I am just another one of your bits of muslin². She seemed so angry and I cannot blame her. I do not even wish to think about the sight that met her eyes when she walked in here …. Mon Dieu!"
Erik watched open-mouthed as Christine stormed about the room. Her anger awed him as it out-matched his own. She grabbed her rumpled dress, which she found lying across a small chaise lounge and savagely pulled it on over her head, fuming and muttering all the while. Marching in front of Erik, she turned and presented her back to him.
"Lace me!" She demanded.
When he did not move and simply stood rooted to the same spot, she sighed.
"Please?" She added, almost whining.
With fumbling fingers and his pulse pounding in his ears, the stunned man did as the woman commanded. An audible gulp escaped his mouth and he attempted to cover the sound by clearing his throat.
"Christine, I am sorry that I lost control and placed you in this awkward situation with your Aunt, but I must be honest with you. You are the only woman I have ever touched in such a manner. Helen knows this. I have never had feelings like this for anyone other than you and I must tell you that I feel no remorse for the things we did. We did nothing wrong, chéri. What we did cannot be wrong as long as we did it with love. Can it?"
His words were low, but Christine heard the sincerity in them. Erik watched with relief as her rigid stance relaxed and her head bowed. She turned slowly to him and her eyes searched his face.
"Do you really mean that?"
She spoke in a desperate whisper that matched the look in her eyes and Erik smiled gently. He lifted his hand and cupped her cheek. The couple jumped at the sharp, but pleasurable tingle that began at the place they touched and continued on to run throughout their bodies. He met her look with steady eyes, a small smile turned up the corners of his mouth.
"Oui."
Christine sighed, closed her eyes and leaned into his caress.
"Oh! Mon amour!"
He leaned in, placed a kiss to her forehead and whispered.
"Je t'aime, Christine. Je t'aime."
A joyous shudder ran through her body.
"And, I you, Erik. Je t'aime."
Reluctantly, the two drew apart and stared at one another with soft smiles curling their lips. Erik broke the silence first.
"Well, unless we wish to further infuriate Madame and have her pay us another visit, I believe we had best make our way to the parlor. Do not worry yourself, chéri. My love for you is not going to disappear. All will be well. I promise! We have waited far too long for this. We deserve to be happy."
He held out his hand to her and she placed her small one into his without hesitation. Pulling her to his side, he placed her hand in the crook of his arm and with a gentle smile, led her out of the room.
◊ ○ ◊ ○ ◊
The old woman paced before the lively, crackling fire.
"Oh! I ache all over! Merde! I am too old to be chasing through the forest in the middle of the night. It was too cold and too damp last night for these decrepit bones. And, now I suffer for it today, even so, it still is not enough to take my mind off those two. They are incredibly tactile with each other. Erik surprises me. I never thought he would be able to lower his guard long enough to allow someone to get close to him, much less allow a woman to … or, for him to …. The two of them had better make their way out here soon. I really do not wish to haul them out of bed, but for Erik's sake, I shall have no choice. Christine is much too dangerous for him in her present state. I shall allow them another minute or two and then …."
The sound of approaching footsteps interrupted her silent rant and she sighed with relief.
"Merci, Dieu!"
A sharp rap on the door caused Helen's eyebrow to rise in surprise, but she held back her chuckle.
"Entré!"
The door swung open and the rumpled pair strode defiantly into the room. Christine swept past Helen and sat in the window seat while Erik took up his customary position leaning on the fireplace mantle. Both faces bore petulant expressions as if they were children expecting a lecture and Helen had to bite her lip to stop from laughing at them.
"You can both stop glaring at me! I have no objections to the two of you being together. My worries have nothing to do with moral or religious doctrines. Christine, you received no training and have no control over your power. In this state, you are a danger to Erik. Did either of you notice the thunder or see the flashes of lightning that happened while the two of you allowed your passions to overwhelm you?"
Seeing the blank looks on both of their faces, Helen smirked as she looked at Christine. After a moment, the smirk faded. Sorrow pulled the deep creases of her face downwards and she blinked once before she continued.
"I thought not. Well, Christine, I was not trained to handle the power of the bracelet either. You are aware of what happened to me at the carnival and you know that Diamanté despises me for 'killing' my rapist. What you do not know is that I did have enough knowledge of the power to use it against that man. I knew that if I gave free reign to my unbridled emotions, which in my case was hate, I knew it would cause a lightning storm. The gypsy died from a direct lightning strike. Lightning I caused with my hate. Lightning I hoped would kill him. The fact that I wanted it to happen is the reason Diamanté cannot forgive me. I used the power of the bracelet to kill. The bracelet's power has many purposes, but murder is not one of them. I intentionally used the bracelet's power to kill my rapist. You might say that he deserved it. I definitely felt he did, but in the course of my life, I learned that such judgments are not mine to make. My slight knowledge gave me the power to allow that man's death, but my lack of training made me unaware of the consequences of my actions. My entire life is a penance to cleanse that man's blood from my soul. And, the worst of it is that I do not know if I can ever find forgiveness."
She turned away from Christine in shame and walked to the window opposite the young woman. She stared out at the bright, early spring day, but did not see the light. The old woman could only see the darkness, which weighed heavily upon her heart. She placed her hand over her faulty heart and wondered just how much longer it would continue to beat. She cleared her throat.
"I tell you this not to gain your pity, but for your understanding. You are entirely unversed in the ways of the power you hold within you. If you lose yourself to passion's embrace and couple with Erik, well, I fear you might kill him. Unlike me, you would be completely blameless, but I do not believe that would assuage your guilt over his death. I cannot stand idly by and allow such a tragedy to occur, not when it seems that the two of you harbor such deep feelings for one another. So, the two of you must wait until Christine learns to control her power. The day Diamanté assures me that you are not a danger to Erik is the day I shall happily stop up my ears and not give a whit as to what the two of you do in the privacy of your own chambers. However, until that day, the two of you need to keep your amorous escapades in check."
Helen's words faded away into a strange vacuum of silence, which enveloped the room. The fire continued to flicker and dance, but the flames seemed to make no sound. The pair had been quietly watching the old woman's back, but found all too soon that they could not resist the physical pull of the other's presence in the room. Slowly their gaze ran from Helen, down along the floor and up the object of their desire's body. With crimson cheeks blazing, they quickly skipped upwards until their eyes locked. Christine's mouth gaped slightly and her lips moved soundlessly.
"I want you more than anything I have ever thought to want. I could not bear it if I hurt you. Do you think what she says is true?"
Erik bit his lower lip, but did not break their stare with the slightest of blinks.
"If I can be certain of anything in this world besides you, I am sure of Helen. She does not tell lies. She sometimes avoids speaking the truth, but if she says the words, I have no doubt of their veracity. She believes everything she has said to us is true."
Christine nodded almost imperceptibly.
"Yes, I feel that she speaks the truth, too. So, mon amour, what do we do now?"
The young man's eyes flashed. His sagging shoulders straightened and a smile spread across his entire face.
"You called me, mon amour and told me you loved me when we were in your bed chamber. Do you truly mean it, Christine?"
Christine gave a small unladylike snort and a toothy grin stretched her delicate features.
"Speaking only the truth must be a family trait, Erik. I would not have said it if I did not mean it. Now, I repeat. What do we do now?"
The old woman's melodious voice interrupted the two young people's silent conversation.
"Is it not obvious, mes enfants? I must begin Christine's training as soon as possible. For the sooner she can control her power, the sooner I can leave the two of you to your own devices … so to speak."
¹ "Putting Nebuchadnezzar out to grass" – 19th Century slang for sexual intercourse.
² "Bits of muslin" – 19th Century slang for women of easy virtue.