So, you're all dying to know what's happened to Lenore…kinda sad that no one commented whatsoever on the fact that they finally had sex…(except for Lady Taevyn, she commented on it…then again, she beta read it…so…yeah…)
I'm sure you all know the spiel by now, I don't own Phantom, fic takes place in present day, blah blah blah, REVIEW…
Erik stretched as he woke, and quickly realized Lenore wasn't in the bed with him anymore. Deciding not to bother with the mask, he pulled on a pair of slacks and headed for the drawing room. He would be brave when he informed her of what their future could hold and when she made her decision, he would accept it without question. No urging her to change her mind, no trying to influence her choice. It had to be her decision entirely.
All thoughts of being a noble gentleman over the issue left his mind when he saw her lying on in front of the fireplace in a heap. "Lenore!" he cried, rushing over to her and taking her into his arms. Her body was cold, almost as cold as death. Breath barely passed through her lips. "What's wrong with you, Lenore?" The only thing he could think of to do was to take her aboveground, get her to a hospital. This was most certainly beyond his skill, whatever it was. "Don't worry, I'll get you the help you need," Erik assured her unconscious form.
"They can't help her any more than you can, Erik," the dark voice of Satan himself came from the shadows by the front door. "You know as well as I there's only one way to save her now."
"I know this place," Lenore whispered. She had opened her eyes and found herself in a meadow of roses, the scent almost overpowering her nose. Erik's music wasn't there, but this was surely the edge of Heaven. Looking forward, she saw a line of people waiting at a gate set in a large white, marble wall. Behind the wall, white elegant towers rose into the sky. "Am I…am I dead?"
"Almost," Hiroshi's familiar voice said behind her. She jumped a mile, and she whirled to face him. "Erik told you not to be afraid, didn't he?"
He did…but… "What's going on?"
"We can't talk here," Hiroshi murmured. "If they catch me here, I'll be roughly escorted back to Hell, and you'll be condemned for eternity." Hiroshi offered her a hand.
Do I dare take it? What if he's trying to trick me? What if this is all some sort of weird mind thing he's doing to me? Can I trust him? Erik, why did you tell me not to be afraid of him? If you hadn't said anything, this would be a lot easier.
Lenore looked at that line of people awaiting judgment. She bit her lip and prayed she was making the right decision. Turning her back on the walls of Heaven, she took Hiroshi's hand.
The landscape swirled around them, turning into a gray mist. The mist grew into fog, and Lenore was shocked to find herself sitting in a boat with Hiroshi on a river. "The River Styx, darling, to spare you confusion," Hiroshi commented.
"I don't care what it's called; tell me what's going on right now or I'll shove you into it!" Lenore snapped.
"Such a temper! I'm only trying to help you," Hiroshi muttered. "The River Styx, as you may or may not know, is the boundary between the realm of the living and the realm of the dead. And as I said before, you're almost dead."
"How does one manage to be 'almost dead'?" Lenore asked, trying to keep her temper under control. This man was annoying and a sadistic murderer, and it was very hard not to suspect him of trying to trick her into committing an unforgivable sin.
"Satan's keeping your body alive right now," Hiroshi explained. "But it's too weak to keep a hold on your soul. Physical bodies need a particular amount of strength and energy to contain a soul, it's very complicated to explain."
"So, I'm supposed to be dead right now? What the hell happened that I'm dead?" Lenore demanded.
"You have a condition called Arrhythmogenic Right Ventricular Cardiomyopathy," Hiroshi informed her. "It runs in families, sometimes skips generations. You're great great uncle died from it when he was twenty three, but you wouldn't know that. Humans don't have a cure for it yet. The disease destroys the heart muscles in your right ventricle and replaces it with scar and fatty tissue. Eventually, your heart stops pumping blood. Which is exactly what happened to you."
"You know, it's disturbing how casually you tell me that my heart stopped working," Lenore grumbled. "This is ridiculous, I don't have a history of heart problems, I've never had any symptoms to make me suspect something was wrong."
"The disease doesn't show until late teens or early twenties," Hiroshi replied. "In some cases, such as yours, premature death occurs with no warning. Sometimes people have a bit of warning, not that it makes any difference."
"With all due respect here, I think you're insane," Lenore informed him. "What's the point in bringing me to the River Styx just to tell me how I died? I'm sure Saint Peter coulda told me without having to take this little side trip."
"Yes, well…" Hiroshi trailed off. "I'm not exactly Heaven's favorite demon. The point in bringing you here was to keep you from going to Judgment until you've heard your options. You see, you don't have to die yet."
"Oh, like I'm going to listen to a demon," she muttered.
"History will define you by the choice you make here," Hiroshi said softly. "The first option is, of course, immortality. Should you choose it, you'll be the only woman to ever enter the Condemned Circle. Trust me, I've peeked into the future and there won't be any other women.
"Your second option is Second Life. In this option, I transfer your soul into an unborn child (who is currently without a soul, so don't get yourself all flustered that you'd be killing someone, because you won't). You'll forget your past, except for intense memories. Your family and friends will be completely forgotten, but at the age of eighteen, you'll have nightmares of your accident. And when you reach twenty one, you'll start having some rather…vivid dreams about your little experience with Erik."
"That's none of your business," Lenore snarled.
"Your third choice," Hiroshi continued, pretending not to hear her last remark, "is to go back to Judgment, where you'll enter Heaven and God will have the Pope make you a saint. Not sure what you'll be the saint of, but you'll be a saint. He'll give you that because you resisted the temptation to put off Judgment."
"So wait, if I choose one of the first two options, I'm going to Hell?"
"No. If you choose the first option, you pretty much get to roam Earth for eternity if you like. There are certain consequences of it, but that's another story. Option two gives you a clean slate, all past sins immediately forgiven. That's because you're starting life over anew, and Heaven tries not to hold you responsible for your old life. They haven't had much in the way of soul income for the past hundred years, you see."
Lenore gave a sigh. "I want to know more about option two before I make a decision."
"Why is it they always want to know more about option two?" Hiroshi murmured. "Fine. Option Two details: You'll have a better complexion, larger breasts, a nice hourglass figure, a round backside, and rather shapely legs. Your hair and eyes will remain the same. Your voice will be altered to some extent. Because you've lived once before, you'll learn to walk and talk sooner, and you'll learn to read at a younger age; in short, society will consider you a genius. As I already told you, this life will be completely forgotten except for the intense experiences. Anything else you'd like to know about this option?"
"What about my name?" Lenore asked after a pause. "What'll my name be if I go this road?"
"We can arrange it to stay the same," Hiroshi said. "Or we can make sure it's changed, if you want."
"I think I'd like it to stay the same," Lenore replied. "You know, I can remember a time when I would've done anything to change my name…and now that I can, I find I've grown attached to it."
"Erik's voice can have that affect," Hiroshi chuckled. "He has a way of saying a word that can make you love it or hate it for eternity."
"If I pick option three, do I get to say goodbye?"
"Yes. I'd let you borrow my body for as long as you needed. Though you can't keep it for more than a year, so don't entertain the thought of running off with it and trying to stay with Erik longer than that."
"Oh yeah, cuz I'm gonna have sex with Erik while I'm in a man's body," Lenore muttered.
"I wouldn't mind," Hiroshi said with a shrug. "He's quite attractive, I understand what women see in him."
"I'm just going to pretend I never heard that…"
"Have you made any decisions yet at all?" Hiroshi inquired. "We can't exactly sit here for eternity waiting for you to make a choice. If you've ruled out immortality, it'd be nice to let Satan know so he can release what bit of life remains in your body."
"You can't expect me to decide in the blink of an eye," Lenore grumbled. It certainly wasn't fair, not at all. Erik'll be so upset if I choose to go to Judgment. He'll never see me again…though he might not see me again if I choose Second Life either. The only way to be sure we stay together is to choose immortality. But that sucks...Life isn't fair…come to think of it, this is death…Death isn't fair either.
"Nothing's ever fair, Lenore," Hiroshi stated.
"That's the first time you've used my name. I didn't think you knew what it was," Lenore observed. "Usually, you just call me kitten."
"Well, Erik doesn't like to think of you that way, and Erik's my friend…"
Lenore knew she couldn't bear to tell Hiroshi the truth about that. Erik wasn't his friend, he merely tolerated the man. "This is the worst decision I've ever had to make," she murmured. Was it wrong of her not to want to die? Was it wrong to want to keep living? It was a natural human instinct to do anything to survive…but how would God feel about her becoming immortal or getting a new life?
"He'll be pissed if you choose immortality. But choosing new life is forgiven," Hiroshi said.
"I don't know what to do," Lenore whispered, putting her head in her hands. "Immortality means eternity with Erik, but eternal damnation. Second Life doesn't condemn me, but I might never see Erik again. And Judgment means I get to go to Heaven, but then I know I'll never see him again."
"I know," Hiroshi responded, taking her into his arms as she began to cry. "It'll be alright. Just make the choice you think will make you happiest."
"I don't know which one that is," she sobbed into his shirt.
"Let me make a suggestion. Go with Second Life. It's the only choice that doesn't have any definites. You're not guaranteed anything through Second Life, not condemnation or salvation…You don't have to take my advice, of course, but that's just my two cents, for what it's worth."
Lenore collected herself, trying to weigh all the pros and cons. It was a horrible decision no matter what she chose. "I've decided," she told Hiroshi fifteen minutes of silence later.
"She did not choose immortality," Hiroshi's voice sounded from the shadows next to Satan. "I'm sorry, Erik. I told you the next time we saw each other, it wouldn't be a pleasant visit."
Erik felt the last bit of warmth leave Lenore's body, heard her last breath pass through her lips. "What did I ever do to Him to deserve this?" Erik snarled, clutching her body as the tears began.
"Chief Jetter, you can call off the search," Ember said softly, staring at the parchment in front of her.
To the Parker family, friends, and whomever it may concern,
It is with the deepest regret that I inform you of Lenore's passing on the thirtieth of August. She died of a heart condition. I ask that you allow me to take care of the burial. I loved her deeply and wish to have her near me. I hope you can understand this.
With deepest sympathies,
Erik.
The ink was terribly smeared, and Ember knew he had cried the entire time while writing it. Ember couldn't hold it in anymore and burst into tears.
The woman had died giving birth, bringing a beautiful little girl into the world. "Mr. Wolfe, what do you want the child's name to be?" a nurse asked.
He didn't care about the woman whatsoever. She was a common slut, and when she got pregnant at a fraternity party, he had claimed to be the father so he could gain custody of the child.
"Lenore Aithne," the man responded. "I've been waiting nine months for you, kitten," he whispered to the infant in his arms.
"What have you done with my Lenore?" Erik yelled, grabbing the authoress by the throat and preparing to strangle the poor woman.
"Please stop the violence," the authoress sniffled. "It hurts."
"That's the idea, you halfwit!"
"Honestly Erik, you're such a monster sometimes," Hiroshi commented, examining his nails carelessly.
Erik threw the authoress to the ground and grabbed Hiroshi. "You know what's happened. Tell me or I'll snap your neck," he threatened.
"You know, a threat might be more effective if I could actually die."
While the two immortals were occupied in conversation, the authoress began limping away at top speed. The hell with reminding the readers to review; her safety was more important.