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.

To hear a single voice amidst the roar of the crowd
is a moment of clarity in a life otherwise filled with useless noise.

A Fool's Book of Wisdom

Chapter Twenty-Four – Clarity

"Cadmus? Who is he?"

"Were you not listening when I told the girl how I came to be in the bracelet?" Diamanté scoffed. "Cadmus was my teacher, the man I loved."

The young woman sat cross-legged, her skirt rumpled, on the blackened stump of a tree long dead, surrounded by a deep blanket of red, orange, gold and brown leaves. She sat with her eyes closed, head bowed slightly forward and her hands gently cupping her knees. A sudden gust of wind lifted her mass of curls and sent them fluttering about her head, before they settled in disarray about her face.

"So much has happened over the last eight months. Little did I know the night I decided to leave the chateau that decision would change my life in ways I never imagined it would. I found family. I found music and, most importantly, I have found love."

Another gust of wind whirled around her and brought her thoughts back to her reason for sitting here in the forest. She sighed and with eyes still closed, she stilled her errant thoughts and wrapped herself in a blanket of calm, allowing it to penetrate her and become one with her.

"It is time."

She raised her head, opened her unseeing eyes and lifted her hand. As she raised her hand, every leaf that lay on the ground around her lifted into the air. Without lowering her hand, she curled all of her fingers into a fist, but her index finger, which remained pointing straight up to the heavens. Then she began to swivel her wrist. The leaves swirled around her faster and faster, matching the increasing speed of her rotating wrist. And, then she stopped and the leaves stopped as well. The leaves hung motionless in the air with bits of twigs and dust suspended along with them. Suddenly, the young woman thrust her arm above her head and clenched her fingers into a tight fist. The leaves flew upwards and then seemed to explode. One corner of Christine's mouth lifted in a satisfied smirk as she watched all of the bits of leaves drift lazily to the ground. Her head tilted to one side and her chin lifted, as she seemed to listen to an inner voice. She quirked an eyebrow.

"Well that certainly proved my suspicions. I should feel triumphant, but I do not. I now hold the key to the magic, but so many things could go wrong." She straightened her head and blinked. She repressed a smirk. "Yes, Jacob. I know you are there. I have known all along." She paused. "So, what do you intend to do now?"

Not expecting an answer, as she knew the man could not hear her thoughts, she lowered her hand to her lap and closed her eyes. She continued her one-sided conversation.

"Ah, yes. My actions today placed you in quite a bind. Have they not?"

She cast her senses out into the woods that surrounded her and found him. She felt no threat from him. In fact, she felt an odd sense of protectiveness emanating from him. She shook her head almost imperceptibly and she felt waves of sadness and affection sweep through her at the same time.

"Oh yes, Jacob. So, you saw what I am able to do. Will you report what I have done? Or, will you keep it to yourself as you have about so many other things you have witnessed here. I wonder when you will decide what to do about your dilemma. All too soon, I suppose, as today's demonstration shall force you into making a decision. What I allowed you to witness today was too out of the ordinary. Too unusual. If you do not tell, you endanger your life if your employer discovers your treachery, but the goodness in your heart holds you back. Time runs out for you, Jacob. Cadmus shall awaken soon. Your employer unwittingly sees to that."

Opening her eyes, she rose, brushed off her skirt and after allowing her eyes to sweep sadly across Jacob's hiding place, she returned to the cottage.

Christine lay on her bed. Her mind awhirl with excitement. After the time she spent in the forest that afternoon, she knew she was ready. And, she felt the beginnings of a plan taking shape in her mind. She wrapped her arms about her body, hugging herself as a shiver of pleasure coursed through her. She giggled quietly.

"I cannot believe it, but I know I am correct. I simply cannot believe that I am the first one to think of this. Now, the question is, what do I do? I have a secret, but I am uncertain whether it is a good secret or not. I know something that none of the women who came before me ever puzzled out. And yet, I cannot help but wonder. Who am I to think that I can know this thing as a certainty that hundreds, perhaps, a thousand or more women never understood? But, I do. I do. I know this as surely as I draw breath into my lungs. I know it as surely as the sun rises in the east and as surely as I am mortal, I know it. My secret can set my family free, but I am hesitant to tell them. I do not want to let them go. I am selfish. I lost my family once and just found them again. And, now I must set them free. I am Persephone and it is autumn. Hades comes for me. I can feel it. There is only one person in whom I may confide and it is time. I must before I lose the moment. I must speak with Erik. He and Helen have known one another for a long time. His perspective on how he thinks she will react can help me decide on what I should do next. So, hmmm … where exactly is Erik right now?"

With no conscious effort, she sent out small tendrils of thought, searching for Erik. She felt Helen in her room. Nadir and Edgar were in the new barn. At the outer corners of her awareness, she felt Jacob. He was perched in a tree, clutching his cloak tightly about him to keep out the cold. He sat there and watched. He watched and reported. He reported and prayed that the man paying him to watch, would continue paying him to observe them and not pay him to act. Christine shook her head. It was a futile hope that Jacob held. Whoever knew to keep watch over Helen, must know something of the power and it was only a matter of time before the man would make his move against Helen. Her lips twisted into a wry smile.

"Whoever it is that employs Jacob is sorely mistaken if he believes it is a power he can steal. And, if he thinks that he can force Helen into using her power, he is an absolute fool. I am uncertain whether I am fortunate or not that he is of the opinion that I am no threat to him. I should feel insulted, but misjudging me could be the one crucial miscalculation he makes. It could tip the scales against him."

She bit her lip and shuddered.

'I hesitate to think what I would do or what Erik would do to him, if he attempted to harm me or, worse yet, kidnap me. But, unless he catches me completely unaware, I feel he has little chance of accomplishing that task. So, just where is my beloved?"

Christine once again sent out what she thought of as her invisible fingers, feeling for Erik's presence and smiled when she sensed he was in his room. She wanted to wrap the man within the touch of those fingers, but knew that if she did, he would feel it. Erik was the only person that could sense her spirit touch and she feared he would resent her intrusion into his private place. So with great effort, she restrained her desire.

"Well, all I have to do is stand and walk to his room. Now that I know what I know, I am no longer a danger to him." Her heart sang with joyous anticipation. "Time to go to the man I love and see what he thinks about my ideas."

She leapt from her bed and strode over to the full-length mirror standing in the corner of her room. Gazing into the mirror, she inspected the flushed face that looked back at her and smiled.

"I look just like all of those girls back at the chateau that I so scornfully dismissed as foolish twits that mooned over a man. I never thought I would look this way or, that I would feel this happy that I do! Oh! Erik, hold on to something, mon amour, here I come and here goes everything!"

She twirled this way and that for a moment, her hands playfully holding onto the sides of her skirt as she twisted and dipped before the mirror. Her eyes shone brightly and her cheeks flushed rosy red. She gleefully curtsied to her reflection, turned and hurried to Erik's room.

Erik paced back and forth along the length of his bed, his mind in an emotional turmoil. He felt an ever-present desire to be with Christine, a desire that seemed to grow stronger with each breath he drew into his lungs. One that he was not certain he would be able to control for very much longer. Then, there was the worry he felt for Helen, she had begun to act strangely right around the time of Nadir's arrival, withdrawing into herself and holding herself aloof from everyone. Her normally sparkling ice blue eyes seemed as flat as death and it frightened him. Helen left the cottage each day just as the sun peeked over the horizon and would not return until dinner was already on the table. She spoke to no one and when spoken to, answered with a yes, no or noncommittal grunt. No amount of teasing, cajoling or angry words could coax her into confiding in Erik. After supper, she locked herself in her room, allowing only Christine to enter for an hour's lesson. When Erik asked Christine if she knew what troubled Helen, the young woman became evasive and quickly changed the subject. Erik also had to admit that Nadir had been acting strangely as well. He seemed constantly to be underfoot, asking if he could help with the household chores or cooking. Nadir seemed nervous, yet, at the same time, excited and it puzzled Erik greatly. And now, Christine had been acting strangely, especially during this last week. However, none of those things was the cause of his current pacing.

"No, even with all of the tension I have sensed in this household over the course of the spring, summer and, now, autumn, there is something else that is wrong. Something of which I am completely unaware. Something about which I have no knowledge other than this sense of dread."

He paused in his pacing, placed his fingers to his temples and massaged the bare flesh of his face. His thoughts were interrupted and his pacing halted by a knock at his door. His eyes darted about the room, searching for his mask. He saw it lying discarded on the mussed bedclothes and walked to retrieve it, as he did a second knock sounded.

"Yes? Who is it?"

He swiped the mask off the bed and settled it atop his ruined features, when the muffled response to his inquiry caused him to freeze.

"Erik, it is I, Christine. May I enter? I need to speak with you. Please?"

He blinked in surprise and then ran his hands through his dark hair to smooth it, then tucked his loose shirttails into his trousers as he moved to the door. Taking several deep breaths to calm himself, he opened the door.

"Christine …."

He began, but she cut off his words with her mouth as she passionately pressed her lips against his. Erik moaned as he felt the curves of her body mold against him and her hands ran up his chest, around the back of his neck and on into his hair. His manhood, already standing at half-mast, sprang to full attention when she ran her tongue along the seam of his lips. Erik bit back a groan and carefully disentangled himself from her embrace. He held her at arm's length and studied her.

"Ma chéri! What are you doing? Although I want you more than I have words to tell you, we cannot do this, please!"

His eyes widened at the mischievous grin she wore and the smoldering fire he saw blazing in her brown orbs. He felt his throat go dry and gulped.

"Christine!" He croaked.

"Yes, mon amour?" She purred.

"We cannot do this! The storm …." He panted.

She smirked and leaned into him once more.

"Oh, Erik, I see things clearly now. I have embraced the storm and we need fear it no more. Later tonight, we must talk, but now is for the two of us. And, I need you to take me. Please, make me yours! We have waited so long and been so patient. I feel that if you do not love me, I shall explode. Take me, Erik, unless you do not want me, of course. Otherwise, shut up and kiss me! Now!"

Author's Note: I would like to wish everyone Merry Christmas! If you do not celebrate Christmas, I apologize for the belated wish and hope that you had a Happy Chanukah! My fondest wishes go to each and every one of you! --ny