My Forever and Always (The Phantom of The Opera)

Chapter 20 - Big Revelations

FINALLY, FINALLY, FUCKING.FINALLY.

I opened my phone and 'ding', notifications... I was connected to data again!!!

I opened my Instagram and it immediately loaded posts and stories. I was sitting in an air-conditioned car wearing my comfy sneakers and flared jeans and loose top, no corsets and no bullshit. The signal showed green and our driver shifted gears smoothly, while Maroon 5 was playing on the radio. No more cracking my back on rough roads and rocky horse carriages. I leaned on my mom's shoulder, looked out of the window and took a deep breath. Wow, the beautiful visuals of a modern city. The flashy ads, the traffic, the splendid night lights, the skater kid on the sidewalk, the busy Starbucks outlet, bunch of people walking around looking at their phones, that one tiktoker shooting a dance in public, a couple of performers busking, a bus of noisy tourists, the diversity of people, the lack of generic homophobia, racism and sexism. Damn, even if I time travelled and became royalty in the Victorian Era, I'd still pick the 21st Century.

I plugged my air pods in and swiped through my ipad, looking for something to watch on Netflix. It was a considerable time till we reach the Manor.

BACK AT THE MANOR

I plopped on my soft bed, holding my belly. I over ate at dinner. My mom looked and me and commented, "Clary, stop stuffing your face like that. It's not like you've eaten this food after ages."

Who's gonna tell her, she's actually right. Back at 1870, I'd sell my soul to eat some instant ramen. After relishing the dinner, I put on a sheet mask and watched Brooklyn 99 on my laptop. I suddenly get a call from Aziel. In case you guys forgot, he's my childhood bestie. (refer to 1st chapter)

The call cut short and I got a text, "Video call, NOW."

I switched windows on my laptop and logged in a meet. Aziel's face was on my laptop, I took off my mask and spoke, "I'm having an amazing vacation, you tell."

"Me? I have the biggest news of the century."

"Oh? What if I tell you I time travelled and lived in 19th Century Paris for over a month?"

"Nah, my news is bigger. University acceptance letters are out."

"WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAT?!"

With my family with me in the room, Aziel and his mom on the screen, I opened my mail.

Accepted. I was accepted.

I look up and see Aziel screensharing his letter, he is accepted too!

It was all noise, commotion and cheers from both sides of our screens, I looked at my screen and Aziel mouthed a "Hell Yeah" to me. I smiled widely. We called up more of our friends, asking where they got in. it was post dinner celebration at the Manor. We ordered ice creams and a cake to celebrate late at night. Dad popped a bottle of champagne.

It was way past mid night, dad finally sent me off to bed after he hugged me and told me how proud he was that I got into my dream college. I changed into my pyjamas and turned out the lights. The room was dark except for a soft light pouring in from the window. I opened my phone, the fluorescent light hit my face. I opened the gallery and saw a selfie I took with Erik. He was wearing his mask and his hair was slick back neatly, he was wearing his luxurious black clothes. He had a silly shocked expression while I sported a big grin. We both looked kinda stupid but it was a nice picture. I was zooming in a smiling at the photo when I saw a drop of water on my screen. Before I even realised tears were uncontrollably running down my face. My throat was a lump as I choked on my tears. My vision blurred with my tears and I dropped my phone on the bed. I starting sobbing. Now that I'm finally alone in the dark, the gaping pain threw itself at me. I was hurting every single minute since I came back, but I suppressed that lingering emotion with the people and sights around me. Now it all flooded upon me at once. The agony, guilt, and pain came gushing. It hurt so much. My chest felt so tight. I terribly missed everyone back at Opera Populaire, but I especially missed Erik. I was never going to see him again, I would never hear him play his violin, or argue with him over silly things. I would never go sneaking around the Opera through the secret passages. I was never going to hear his smooth yet deep voice again. It was all gone, like a dream. I hate how things ended, but I prayed with all my heart that he will be ok. I prayed that he would understand what is right for him. Maybe losing me so abruptly was right, he should know his actions have consequences. He should know that if he tries to harm others, no one will tolerate his shit, Ghost or not.

I prayed that he would understand what'd good for him and not go down the path of destruction.

I cried myself to sleep that night while holding my pendant tightly.

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I woke up the next morning to a lot of commotion. The sun was up and bright, indicating it was past 10 in the morning and nearby midday. Wait, why the fuck am I guessing time by the sun like some Victorian Era commoner. I took my phone from the bed side, 11:30 a.m. I heard a thrashing noise down the hall and Clayton let out a loud 'Ouch' while dad was scolding him. Geez, what are they up to?

I walk down the halls of the old French Mansion but no one was in their usual rooms. I heard more sound coming down the extreme end of the hall. When I reached the end, I saw my mom crouched on the floor, checking some pile of old-looking dresses, ribbons and trinklets out on a rustic trunk. The door to the always-locked store room was open. I peeped in and saw dad and Clayton going through cob webs and removing huge bedsheet-like clothes.

"What are you guys up to?"

"Dad found the key to this store room so we opened it to check out." Clayton said.

"Haha, you guys found any treasure in this pile of dust?"

Mom chimed in, "All of these antique pieces cost a fortune dear."

I heard dad calling everyone in, he had found something.

"Look, it's a record of our family ancestry. It also has noted the past ownerships of The Chagny Manor since it was first made. They started building this in the early to mid-1800s."

"Wow, we can check out if our ancestors were French warriors or something. I'm hoping they are cool enough to brag about, someone like Napoleon." Clayton gushed by himself.

We carried down the heavy and dusty journals and books downstairs.

It was way past afternoon. I was helping mom out with some chore when Clayton came in.

"Hey, dad figured out the family tree."

"Really? That's great, but why do you sound so dull?" I asked.

"He told me we had a celebrity in our family. And I got super pumped." Clayton said plainly.

"Well, I'm still pumped. Who is it?"

"Pfft, it's some lame ass Opera Singer. She was the Soprano at Opera Populaire that we visited yesterday. Christine Daae."