Disclaimer: I do not own POTO or Elisabeth.
A/N: Another chapter up. For some reason, I just could come up with a name for the chapter.
Chapter 13
Christine lay sprawled out on the chaise in the front room of the flat she'd been able to secure with the little money she had. Before her marriage, Christine had had a small store of money at the bank, which she had somehow forgotten to turn over to Raoul. Using this, she was able to create a modest living for herself. Dacio continued to pay for Vladen's schooling, much to Christine's joy. She knew that although she could afford a small flat, she had no were near what was needed to give Vladen the kind of schooling she wished for him to have. So the de Chagnys became blissfully ignorant of Christine's frequent visits to the Academy.
A sharp rap pulled Christine's nose out of the book she was reading. She walked across the room. She opened the door to see, of all people, Dacio standing in front of her, her nose turned up haughtily and her shoulders draped in an ermine wrap.
"Good afternoon, Dacio," Christine said with a forced politeness. "Please come in, sit down. Is there anything that I can get for you?"
Dacio didn't spend her time on pleasantries and immediately cried, "You have no claim to Vladen."
"What do you mean?" Christine asked defensively, letting her mask of gentility be stripped away.
"You divorced my brother, and that means that everything you have belongs to him- even the clothes you are wearing right now!"
"First of all, my clothing belongs entirely to me- every thing Raoul ever gave me I left behind. Second, I believe that I should have some custody of my child. I went through the pain of bringing him into this world, not Raoul."
"The law clearly states that the Comte de Chagny has full custody of the child." Dacio smiled sinisterly. "The law of the Catholic Church also forbids divorce." Christine's hand flew to the crucifix that hung around her neck. She was a very pious woman, and to hear that she had divorced her husband was almost as bad a deed as murder in her eyes.
Dacio continued, "I see you see things now as I do. You are nothing but a piece of trash. What my brother ever saw in you, I never know, but he is disillusioned now and wise. He will enforce any law necessary to get what he rightfully deserves from your vile clutches." With a dramatic whirl of her wrap, Dacio left the flat.
Like a sleepwalker, Christine into her bedroom and took out her hand mirror. She gazed at her reflection, examining her face as one might examine a piece of artwork. She tried to look beyond the flesh to see her soul. As most people count their blessings and virtues, Christine counted her sins. No that she thought about it, she had caused the death of Beate, Philippe, and Erik. It had happened unintentionally, but that thought didn't even enter Christine's head at the time.
From the café across the street came the sound of men singing:
"We sit around in the cafe and wait for the apocalypse
Chatterers who don't know anything,
they just sit there and kill time
Again a year is gone-- LIKE I should care!!!"
Christine set down her hand mirror and screamed out the window down at the café. "My soul is black as night and when your apocalypse comes, I will be forever condemned." The singing immediately stopped, and Christine collapsed on the bed, crying.
There was a soft rap on the open door of the flat. "Madame," a young voice called uncertainly. Christine wiped the tears from her cheek with the back of her hand and sat up. "Madame," the voice called again. Christine slowly touched her feet to the ground and glided into the front room, where a boy dressed in the Academy uniform was standing.
"What do you want?" Christine asked sourly.
The boy hesitantly replied, "It's your… your son, he's been hurt."
"Vladen! Where is he?"
"At the school hospital." Christine threw a thin black cloak over her shoulders and left the flat in a whirl. Flustered, the boy followed her out and shut the door behind him.
When Christine reached the Academy hospital, it seemed impossible for her to get to Vladen- the place was crammed with people from wall to wall. Seeing her trouble, a nurse asked her kindly, "You're looking for Vladen de Chagny, aren't you, Madame?"
"Oui. Can you show me where he is?"
"Of course." The nurse led Christine down a drab, windowless corridor. Every once and a while there would be a pair of small sconces to light the way, making it very difficult to navigate through the hall without having the eyesight of a cat.
As they walked, the nurse explained all the commotion. "No one has been hurt, even minorly, at this school in a long time." She stopped in front of a door. "Here is Master Vladen's room." She knocked once hesitantly. "Thankfully no one is in there now. You can go on in."
Christine opened the door gingerly and saw Vladen sleeping on a bed in the center of the room. "Vladen, my darling!" Christine embraced him. He didn't seem too injured, although there were little beads of dried on the pillow.
"What happened to him?" Christine asked the nurse before she got a chance to leave.
"No one really knows. It seems to be a head injury. Right now, though, he is in a coma."
"A coma!" Christine hugged Vladen tighter. "You can't be serious."
"I am."
"Will he… will he wake up?"
"Only time will tell…"
"Is there anything you can do for him?"
"Nothing except waiting and praying." Her head hung low, the nurse left Christine alone. Christine slipped down to a kneeling position by the bed, holding Vladen's hand tenderly. A dark shadow appeared at Vladen's bedside. Christine slowly lifted her head in enough time to see Erik reaching out for her son. She found herself unable to cry out, although tears ran down her cheeks. Suddenly, Erik's eyes made contact with hers. Without word or warning, Erik disappeared, and Vladen's eyes fluttered open.
A/N: R&R!
The song the men in the café sing is an excerpt from "Die fröhliche Apokalypse (The Cheerful Apocalypse) from Elisabeth. Once again, many thanks to Stacy's Musical Village for the English translation!