Epilogue

Paris, February 5, 1882

Box five, at the newly reconstructed Opera Populaire, was far from empty. It was filled to capacity with the friends and family of one Erik Muhlheim, the man formerly known as the Phantom of the Opera. The Opera was performing a new Opera especially composed for the reopening gala by Monsieur Muhlheim titled Le Comte Noir where his wife Christine Daae would sing a single aria, in a return performance titled Love Never Dies. Christine had only recently given birth to the couple's first child Gustave Charles Muhlheim and therefore was not ready for a starring role. The lead ballerina was the new sensation Meg Giry. Erik had written the role to showcase Meg's immense talent. Her mother, Antoinette Giry, did not direct the ballet that evening she was a guest in box five, seated next to her friend Nadir Khan.

That night, the Opera and the City of Paris honored Erik. It had somehow been leaked to the press that the once feared and despised Opera Ghost, had not only been wrongfully blamed for the sinister doings at the Opera Populaire but that he had apprehended the real perpetrator Comte Philippe De Chagny with the aid and support of the Comte's own brother Raoul De Chagny. Erik was awarded the Ordre national de la Legion d'honneur the highest civilian honor that a French citizen could receive. The President of France the Duc du Magenta was on hand to award the decoration to Erik. Erik's mother, siblings and of course Christine beamed with pride to see Erik awarded that great honor. It was noted that the allegedly hideous Phantom was in reality a very handsome man. His right side bore some scarring, which given his Teutonic heritage, could have been nothing more than a dueling scar. Something that was common among the Prussian nobility. Erik wore some stage makeup to cover the rest of it. Raoul loved to tease him about his use of makeup and ask him who the real fop was. The whole effect made Erik appear even more handsome than Raoul with his perfect face. It suggested to the onlooker a past of some adventure and mystery, which made Erik irresistible to many women. Fortunately for Christine, he took no notice of his appeal to other women, but the couple became one of the most sought out in the Paris social scene. Christine's ethereal beauty and Erik's surprisingly potent charm, together with their wealth and noble family connections served as an introduction to the highest circles of society.

Comte Philippe was not so fortunate. Due to the intervention of both Monsieur Muhlheim and the De Chagny/De Brecy families, Comte Philippe had been convicted of multiple rapes and murders and sent to Devil's Island to serve a life sentence. It was felt by both families that imprisonment in Devil's Island would be a more suitable sentence than execution by guillotine because a quick death would only end his punishment for his many crimes too soon. Philippe was stripped of his title and property and most of it was given to his half -brother Raoul, the new Comte de Chagny. A smaller share of the family's vast wealth was granted to Erik's foundation that he had previously set up to help the victims and families that Phillipe had hurt. Raoul was given a seat on the foundation, as was his stepfather Georges.

Erik and Christine went on a delayed honeymoon for two months from June to September of 1881. They traveled first to Italy and then to Greece and Constantinople before returning to Normandy where Christine bore their son, a very handsome blond haired emerald eyed son with no facial deformity whatsoever. To their complete dismay, they missed the wedding of Erik's sister Severine to Raoul, the newly invested Comte De Chagny. When they complained that the couple should have awaited their return, Raoul remarked dryly that they chose not to since he was not invited to Erik and Christine's wedding. Raoul and Severine were invited to little Gustave's baptism because it was conceded that the Godparents should be available at their own investiture. Erik threatened Raoul that should anything happen to him and Christine that Raoul had better not raise Gustave as a fop in any way, or Erik would rise up from the dead, and use his Punjab lasso on Raoul.

The two men sat together in box five looking down at Christine as she sang her aria in the final act. It was noted, more than by one person, that Erik and Raoul seemed to be very close friends considering that exactly a year ago Raoul had sat in the same box surrounded by gendarmes, hoping to capture, and possibly even kill, Erik. Many wondered whether Erik was the same man. A young man was seated with his parents at the performance that day by the name of Gaston Leroux. It was his first visit to the Opera and he was very excited. He heard many of those rumors and how it was impossible for the handsome Monsieur Muhlheim to have been the fellow because not even the best surgeon could have turned a fully deformed face with no nose and yellow parchment skin, feral yellow eyes, a bald head with only a few wisps of hair into him.

Monsieur Leroux agreed with their assessment and believed that perhaps it was the Comte himself who was the real Phantom and that his crimes were real. Ironically he was not so wrong.

Poor Philippe was no longer the Comte or a rich man. Shortly after his arrest, he was condemned to reside on Devils Island, where he was forced to work in the fields for days on end. Within the first few months he contracted malaria and then yellow fever. As a result his skin took on a yellow cast and his hair fell out with the exception of a few strands, and he became skeletal from a poor diet. Furthermore, as a former nobleman, he was universally hated and was frequently the target of his fellow inmates. Some of the more aggressive inmates taught him a new meaning to the concept of le droit de seigneur; the same concept that he had so graciously explained to Raoul. His entire family was ashamed of him and their links to him and so he never received any word from France.

The group in box five enjoyed the Opera, and then Christine's aria. On the way out they were greeting by a fawning Andre and Firmin who were not in the least put off by Erik's criticisms of the performance. He suggested to them, that if he should continue to honor them with his work and patronage that they were going to have to implement some key changes and personnel. He told them that he would be attending from time to time while he and Christine were residing in their Paris home, but that he could not spare the same time that he had formerly given when he resided at the Opera House. To their credit, the two managers behaved as if they were pleased with his criticisms. Raoul had to suppress a smirk when listening to them bow and scrape towards the man, remembering how anxious that they all were to get rid of him only a year before.

Erik escorted his friends and family down to his former residence beneath the Opera House. It had been ravaged by the mob, but they could still see the evidence of Erik's perfect taste in furnishings. They were all amazed by how comfortable Erik had made himself in such an unlikely place. When they reached the spot at the edge of the lake where Christine first kissed Erik, and realized that she loved him. She picked up the wedding veil that had been sitting there on the floor ever since that night. She looked at her husband with love filled eyes and he pulled her to him and they gave one another a long and searing kiss. The others looked on and smiled at their obvious expression of love. Even Raoul was not disturbed by the memory, having found his own soul mate in Severine. In fact, they were so comfortable with one another that Severine asked Raoul and Erik to show her where Erik had "disabled him". They both laughed when Erik offered to re-enact the scene to the exact details. Raoul declined using the excuse that he was not anxious to be choked once again.

The next day, Erik and Christine returned to their estate in Normandy. They found it unbearable to spend too much time away from Gustave. They returned home by train, and were able to spend a few hours with their son before he retired for bed. The couple retired to a cozy room with a beautiful fireplace, and they sat on the floor on their Aubusson rug, with their two Mastiff's curled in a ball at their feet. The fire crackled welcomingly and they embraced one another tightly and stared into each other's eyes.

Erik remarked "I still sometimes believe that I am going to wake up and find that this was all just a dream, if so, I never want to wake up from it, mon ange."

Christine smiled at him and told him "But it is a dream, at least it is for two formerly lonely souls like ours. We both wanted nothing more than to have someone to love us and to share our lives with. Fortunately we both found our hearts desires in one another. I promise not to wake up from it if you don't."

Erik smiled at her and pulled her head in his lap and ran his fingers through her hair. He whispered "This feels real."

She whispered back "Because it is…

And the story ends. FIN

Thank you all for your attention to this story and to your continuing support. I hope that if you started and completed this story after I was finished that you will still take the time to tell me what you thought of it. If you liked this story please read my sequel Love's Redemption on this site. It is currently in progress.