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.

Passion burns beneath the skin.
Evil burns from without to within.

A Fool's Book of Wisdom

Chapter Thirty-One – Burn

Christine nodded her agreement as she stepped into the room with Erik following close behind.

"Yes and to steal a line from the Bard and pervert it … a demon by any other name …."

"Still smells as foul." Nadir finished. He turned his cold gaze upon Christine. "If it needs to eat to live, then it is not immortal. We can kill it, non?"

"Indeed. That we can, Monsieur. That we can. And, that is exactly what I intend to do."

Helen worked quickly, securely fastening Kimberly's ankles and wrists with strips of her torn petticoats, as she raced to finish before the young woman awoke. Balling up several pieces of cloth, Helen stuffed the wad of material into the dangerous, but unconscious maw of the infected woman. As she began to wind a final length of twisted crinoline over the woman's mouth and around the back of her head, the blonde let out a muffled moan.

"Oh! Merde! Just grant me two more seconds …." She muttered.

She stumbled back just as the pale blonde opened her eyes. Helen let out a sigh of relief as she saw that the woman's eyes were once more their natural brilliant green and not the solid black of the demon. Helen marveled at the young woman's bravery for she did not move, she did not struggle against her bonds, but simply lay there observing Helen. Her heart filled with regret, but she knew that she had no choice in the matter. Kimberly hovered dangerously close to the turning point and Helen could not leave her untied. It simply was too dangerous … for both of them.

"Not to mention the fact that what I need to do to her will hurt like bloody hell."

She sighed.

"It is for the best, I suppose."

She slowly reached out her hand to brush the limp strands of blonde hair from the woman's face and then patted her cheek softly.

"Do not worry, ma petite." Helen crooned. "I am a healer and I know what to do to help you. But, I must warn you that this will hurt. There is no way around it, as I do not have any of my potions with me. Can you try to hold still? Can you do that for old Helen?"

The wide, emerald orbs met Helen's sapphire blues and studied her intently. After a moment, her eyes broke away from Helen, her shoulders sagged and she slowly nodded her head.

"Very good. I must place my hands on your wound. Will you allow me to do that? It will only take but an instant."

And again, Kimberly's head bobbed up and down in ascent. Carefully and cautiously, Helen crawled to Kimberly's side, raised her arms and pressed her hands atop the torn flesh.

"Brûlez¹!" She intoned.

The command issued forcefully from her mouth and echoed about the dreary chamber. Helen quickly removed her hands from Kimberly's neck and scuttled away from the bound woman. She watched in silence as the wound began to emit a warm, golden glow. Helen scrambled to her feet and backed even further away, stopping only when her back met with the cold stone of the wall.

"Goddess! I hate this! I am certain that the spell's creator never imagined someone would use it in this way, well, at least not without something to relieve the pain. But, I had no choice now, did I? Oh, the poor thing! I cannot even offer her the escape of sleep, as I need to see the infection burn itself out of her system."

Suddenly, Kimberly let out a muffled scream and her body stiffened, her back curving into an impossibly tight arch. Flecks of gold began to sparkle and dance about the woman's neck. As the bright sparks grew larger, the woman's body began to buck and writhe on the floor. An unearthly keening escaped from the improvised muzzle and sent shivers down Helen's spine. She felt the hair rise off the nape of her neck and could almost swear that every single hair on her body stood on its end as she watched Kimberly dislocate her jaw with a fascinated horror. Her hands clutched at her stomach as she fought the wave of renewed nausea, which threatened to overwhelm her when she saw a large, black slug-like appendage snake out of Kimberly's mouth. The deformed tongue slithered about for a moment before expelling the makeshift gag and then retreated inside the inky maw. A brilliant flash of white, which Helen suddenly recognized as a wickedly long fang, rubbed against the bindings wrapped around the blonde's head. Watching that dagger-like tooth rub against the cloth sparked a realization within Helen and spurred her mind into motion.

"Oh no! Helen is not a fool, girl. A bit slow sometimes, but not a complete idiot. Hmmm …. Think, Helen and think quickly. You have one more chance to get it right before she frees herself or the one that did this to her returns. Think!" She muttered.

She forced her eyes away from the sawing canine and lowered her gaze to the wound on Kimberly's neck. Helen gasped in dismay. The wound no longer shone with the brilliance of the sun, replaced with a ghastly shade of sickly green and oozing bubbles of inky black. Without giving her actions a second thought, Helen leapt forward and pressed her hands to the wound. Her posture straightened, her shoulders lifted and she proudly raised her chin. Her sapphire eyes seemed to turn into the very gems they resembled, cold, hard and fiercely beautiful. She blinked slowly and turned to look down at her hands, which she had wrapped about the throat of the bucking and writhing body of the howling woman-beast. Her eyes narrowed. Flecks of umber and amber swirled within their depths, growing larger and seeming to overpower the cold gemstone eyes with their fire.

"Arrêtez-vous! Tenez! Gelez²!"

Her words rang clear, strong and with an air of authority that would brook no denial. Her voice a strange blend of Helen and another, younger woman.

"Brûlez, démon! Brûlez! I cast you back into your own fires. Brûlez!"

Her hands continued to maintain their firm grip on the wounded neck and the skin beneath her splayed fingers began to pulsate with a deep crimson.

"Brûlez!" She commanded.

The crimson became scarlet, the scarlet a burnt orange, which at last burst into streaks of brilliant gold and blinding silver. Kimberly's head whipped from side to side. The woman took no note that her mouth had worked itself free from the cloth bindings as she alternated between shrieks of fury and screams of pain. A cry of agony, which hovered close to ecstasy, escaped her almost human mouth. The jagged canine teeth lengthened and then retracted, lengthened and retracted, until suddenly Kimberly arched her back and with a strength born of the demon blood, she forced her hands apart. The strips of cloth fluttered free of her wrists, yet the young woman made no move to shove Helen away from her. Instead, Kimberly grasped Helen by her upper arms and dragged her down on top of her into a tight embrace.

"Brûlez!"

The word thundered from Helen's lips and Kimberly screeched in pain as the power, which burned her intensified. The women began to roll about on the floor as Kimberly struggled to free herself of Helen's hands, but it seemed that the burning magic had melded their flesh together and Kimberly could not escape.

"Brûlez!"

A flash of lightning lit the chamber, streaking across the room and striking the spot, which joined the women. The force of the bolt caused Helen to release her grip and she flew across the room where her back smashed roughly into the wall. She slid down and landed in a stunned heap on the floor.

Kimberly lay on her back, staring at the ceiling. Her eyes, no longer black, but once again, a brilliant emerald green. She closed her eyes and a sweet smile stretched her lips, revealing a mouth free of fangs. She tentatively lifted her hand and touched her neck. She shivered and sighed.

"Helen?" She called quietly.

The still form stirred and carefully raised its head. She lifted a hand to her throbbing head and groaned.

"Oui?"

"Merci! Now, can we get the hell out of here?"

Silence hung heavily in the air, only to have it broken by a soft chuckle. Kimberly raised her eyes to meet Helen and she found the woman's mirth contagious. With a sense of relief flooding through her entire being, Kimberly allowed a croak of laughter to burst from her mouth.

"Oh, Mademoiselle! I think that is a magnificent idea."

The scent of mushrooms grew ever stronger, but a part of him knew that his nose lied. That feeling more than anything else told him that his feet chose the proper course, so he allowed himself to continue trotting along whatever path his hooves decided to take. As his dumpy gray body moved through the forest, his mind wandered back in time. He relived the moments of his mortal life as ruler of a land, which sadly, no longer existed.

"Gods! So taken with myself was I. I was beautiful. Tall, well-built with blonde, curly hair and bright blue eyes. I allowed myself to believe the simpering and pandering words of my courtiers and, worst of all, the lies of the witch, Marla. Oh, I rue the day that I allowed my obsession with power to overwhelm my common sense. The day that Marla paraded the young, innocent Sabratha before my lecherous eyes. I remember that moment well. One glimpse of that fiery red hair and hazel eyes and I was lost. I was a slave to my need to make her my own. An obsession, which Marla used to bring about all of our undoing. I cannot help but wonder if she intended Sabratha and Cadmus to fall in love or if their love was a convenient happenstance, but I suppose I shall never know the answer to that question. Marla is no more. Now, all that exists is the demon that took her soul. While I know that she would feel only fury if she knew how I feel, I feel only pity for her now. For, she is as much a victim in all of this as Sabratha, Cadmus or I am. She is a victim of her own unrequited love … her love for me. Damn! If only I had not been so blind to her feelings! I cannot help but wonder how things would be different if I had only known. I would like to think that I would have treated her kindly, but I remember how I was and know that is a vain wish. Things would most likely be worse now, so I must find contentment with the way things are and not dwell on what might have been."

He halted as a faint sound tickled the edge of his awareness. A snort escaped his mouth and he pawed at the earth beneath his hooves in frustration.

"Sometimes I wonder if I will ever get used to this body. The scents and the sounds are so sharp and strong. My mind becomes overwhelmed with all of the many distractions in this world." He shook his head to clear his wandering thoughts. "Now, what is it that I smell right now? I am looking for something. What is it? Damn it, Edgar! Concentrate! Time grows short. Now, think!"

His body grew still, not even his tail twitched and his ears stood stiffly erect. His soft brown eyes glazed over and his lids slid closed. His body remained taut, tense, straining to sense something. A faint sound began to buzz in his mind. A sound that at first seemed no more than the droning of insects, but soon took on the sound of tiny voices singing. His eyes opened and his head cocked unconsciously to one side. To help him hear better, he lifted an ear to catch the noise.

"Damn! Are those people? I think that I am allowing my senses to guide me too much. Perhaps, I should use my feelings to discover what I seek. I have forgotten how I depended on my feelings when I was a human. So, what can I feel out there?"

Pulling upon half-remembered memories of his human life, he hesitantly cast his mind out only to find himself sitting dazedly on his hind quarters with his head spinning.

"Bloody hell! What was that?"

A tiny movement caught his attention and he looked down to see a tan mushroom rolling along the ground. He turned his head to look in the direction from which the mushroom came, but saw nothing. His eyes returned to the lumpy bit of fungi and watched as it rolled in an ever decreasing circle before him. As its journey ended, he lowered his head and eyed the mushroom warily. He gave it a cautionary sniff, but quickly backed away as he felt an aura of ancient magic radiating from it.

"Well, I think that Nadir would certainly appreciate the humor here, or at least, understand it … for in this case, I believe that the mountain just came to Mohammed." He cleared his equine throat, which came out as a half-snort and half-bray and then addressed the magical presence with his mind. "Bonsoir, Monsieur. Nice night for a roll."

Edgar grimaced as soon as his mind formed the words.

"My apologies. It seems that I have allowed my friend's sense of humor to overwhelm my own good sense and I spoke without thinking. Please allow me to start again. I am Edgar … and, you are?"

¹Brûlez! – Translation: "Burn!"

² Arrêtez-vous! Tenez! Gelez! – Translation: "Stop! Hold! Freeze!"

Author's Note: Just thought that I'd let everyone know that the next chapter will take us into the mind (and heart) of Erik. My muse spoke and I'm typing as fast as I can to keep up... --ny