My Forever and Always (The Phantom of The Opera)

Chapter 25 - Hannibal

"I am kind of lost, what is going on and why is everything looking so different? What happened to the streets outside and this isn't the room we were in?" Aziel spluttered frantically.

"Ok, cool, cool, cool, cool, cool, cool. Let's not panic. Az, grab my hand, close your eyes. We'll go back the way we came and we will get out of here asap." I tried my best not to stutter. This can't be happening again.

"I don't know about the closing eyes part..."

"Just DO it!!" My necklace was still glowing. So, I grabbed his hand, walked away from the window and clutched my necklace close. I had no bloody idea how this time-travel thing worked, so I just tried to focus my mind on the Opera House, the place and time I want to get back to. I just hoped anything at this point works out. I feel a strange buzzing around me. A few seconds later I open my eyes and look up at Az. Yes, we're still holding hands and he is with me so we are fine for now. Aziel now opened his eyes.

"Clary, is it just me who felt the air around us physically vibrate? As if the air warped and changed in the most unnatural way?" Aziel said in a confused voice.

This time when we looked around, I instantly recognised our surroundings. We stood in front of the same dressing mirror, and we are in the Prima Donna room. There were no lamps on, but from the light around it felt like daytime. The antique décor and furniture around us was confusing me. Are we back to modern day? It suddenly became day time and we are clearly in a different room from where we were before?

"That is the same mirror from before, right?" Az nudged me to look at the mirror.

"Yeah, right it is. Now Az, listen to me carefully. I think this time we both time-travelled. We have to figure out if we are in the right place or not."

Az gave me a funny look and tilted his head to a side.

"Enough jokes Clary, let's get the hell out of this freaky Opera House."

"Az you remember about my whole experience at this place right? And you told me that you believed me?" I asked him.
"Yes I did, ofcourse I did. But my conclusion was that it was a hyper-realistic dream to you, like a schizophrenic episode? So, I never dwelled deep into in. I took your word for it and stuck around, helping you through the trauma of it."

"In short you never truly believed me?" I scoffed.
"Clarissa what are the chances of you believing someone when they say he/she is a time-traveller? Versus the more logical route of thinking that you could have imagined all of it since back then you were watching a lot of Phantom of the Opera stuff and were in France."

I thought about it for a second. Az makes perfect sense and I have no right in getting so defensive. It's like me having to trust him if he says Hogwarts is real.

"Az, listen here. I really can't stress enough on the fact that time-travel is real. Why? Because it's the truth and I've been through it. I'm grateful that you even trusted my words, even though you came with your own conclusion of it. But you kept faith. That's what matters the most to me. So, if by any rotten luck we actually happen to time-travel, please trust me through it?"

"Ok, I trust you." Az sighed and held my hands.

That's when I heard approaching footsteps near the door. A lady dressed in an elaborate costume haughtily strut in with 5 other women. The other women were busy pleating her skirt, powdering her face, brushing her hair and another one holding a pet poodle.

Az and I instinctively hid behind a partition of sorts, behind a heap of clothes. The other women did some touch up on the haughty lady's face and hair. They called her 'Signora Carlotta'. I looked at Az wide-eyed. In a span of 20 minutes of listening on to their French flattering and Carlotta's temper tantrums, the lady and her assistants finally walked out.