Chapter 36 - Epilogue
The Phantom gently closed the door to the cabin and moved quietly down the corridor. Once outside the Wardroom he stretched, and slipped on his shower slippers and walked along the gravel path to the Staff Barracks.
Behind him, Colin lay, sleeping soundly. As he approached the corner of the Staff Barracks, The Phantom paused, and looked back at the low bulk of the Wardroom, where he had spent the night. A low, contented sigh escaped his lips.
"And there stands a happy man!" came a low, chuckling voice.
The Phantom looked around the corner of the barracks and saw Cory, his blond hair sparkling goldly in the rays of the early morning sun. Cory grinned lewdly and waved the huge mug of coffee he'd been drinking at The Phantom.
"Don't you ever sleep?" complained The Phantom as he settled himself beside his friend. "And where are your pants?"
"Actually, I slept quite well," replied Cory. He snickered. "Mind you, sleeping with Sean is like sleeping with a Mexican jumping bean! He's a very restless sleeper." He sniffed the steaming brew in the mug and added, "I also had to pee and since I was up anyway I thought I'd just enjoy the morning."
Cory glanced down at the only article of clothing he was wearing, a pair of blue and white checked boxers. They were, for Cory, the epitome of decorum. "And I am wearing pants. I didn't see any point in putting on shorts and a T-shirt just to grab a coffee." He looked up and saw the sly grin on The Phantom's face and added, "What?"
Laughing, The Phantom shook his head and replied, "I was just remembering the old days, the days when you either didn't wear undies, or when you did they were the most God-awful colours I had ever seen!"
"I was younger then, and very naïve," said Cory blandly, and with a straight face. He took a sip of coffee and added, "And you must admit that Mal had us beat in the ugly undies division."
The Phantom snickered. "He did that," he agreed. "Although I must venture to suggest that even he drew the line at those French knickers you used to wear."
Both Cory and The Phantom laughed at the memory of Mal Wooten, ostensibly a Boatswain, but obsessed with undersea diving, which had led to more than one comment that he should adjust the nitrogen/oxygen mixture in his diving tanks, vied with the Twins in shocking his barracks mates with the underwear he dragged out of his sea chest every morning. Mal was a great believer in the saying that the only thing colourful about the Navy was its underpants. Unlike the Twins, however, he stuck to every boy's favourite tighties, Haines or Fruit of the Looms for the most part.
The Phantom shuddered theatrically as he added, "And the colours! I remember when you and Todd came mooching down the path, when you asked me to buy you some new things. God, you were wearing the most bilious green drawers I ever saw!"
Cory glowered, then giggled. "Ah, well, we were dressing to type . . . then!" He offered the mug of coffee to The Phantom. "And if I may, you are not exactly the fashion plate," he observed, looking at The Phantom's dark blue boxers and white T-shirt.
Taking the mug, The Phantom downed a healthy gulp and said, "I didn't want to wake Colin rummaging around for my clothes." He shrugged. "I'll go back and get them later."
Cory's eyebrow rose slightly. "I take it the 'Prince of the Order' and his 'Guardian' had a joyful reunion?"
The Phantom, who never kissed and told, merely smiled. Then he said, his rising eyebrow matching Cory's, "I trust a 'Page of Honour to the Hereditary Grand Master' enjoyed his brief moment with a certain red-haired knight?"
Cory glowered. "Actually, Todd and I are to become 'Pages of the Presence'. We kicked up a bit of a fuss with Papa when he told us what Michael had in mind." He grinned lasciviously. "Ain't no way I am kicking Sean out of my bed!"
"So you did enjoy a little quality time with Sean last night?" The Phantom asked with a smile.
"More then a little," replied Cory, feigning reluctance. He was more and more falling deeply in love with Sean. "Sean managed to, shall we say, rise to the occasion." Then he frowned. "Of course, he's such a fuddy duddy! All he would do was cuddle and smooch!"
The Phantom laughed at Cory's grim face. "Cory, you were in bed, with another guy, in a barracks!"
"Some of us don't have access to the Wardroom!" returned Cory with a sniff of disdain. "Some of us have to make do with what we have!" He gave The Phantom a wide grin. "You know what Sean said?"
The Phantom shook his head. "I wasn't there! How could I know?" He winked at Cory. "I was sort of busy elsewhere."
Cory growled, "Spare me the details."
"Don't worry, I shall," responded The Phantom. "Are you going to tell me what Sean said?"
The Phantom had a very good idea what Sean had told Cory. Sean was a very private young man, with a strict moral code. In Sean's eyes certain things simply were not done in public - ever!
Cory confirmed The Phantom's thoughts. "He told me that while he loved me dearly there were certain things best done behind closed doors!"
Bursting out in laughter, The Phantom slapped Cory's shoulder playfully. "That's what doors are for!" he said. He squeezed Cory's shoulder. "Cory, Sean Anders is a gentleman, and believes that certain aspects of his private life should remain private."
Groaning, Cory retrieved the mug. "I hate to say it, but he's right." Then he glanced obliquely from the corner of his eyes. "You do understand that Michael was trying to tell us that?"
Nodding, The Phantom said, "We're all gay, Cory. We've accepted the fact, and we've accepted knighthoods. We can't fool around the way we used to. We're adults now, and we must act as adults. We have to blend in, be men of probity."
Cory remained silent and then asked suddenly, "Did I ever tell you why Todd and I decided to walk the straight and narrow?"
"Not all of it," responded The Phantom.
"We realized that what we were doing was self-destructive, and hurting others," said Cory almost wistfully. "We told ourselves that we were just being ourselves, that being gay was something we were and that was that."
"But?"
"Yeah, the ever resounding 'but'," replied Cory with a frown. He waved his hand toward the silent barracks blocks and the parade square. "We had obtained a certain acceptance here . . . but."
"There is still the world across the causeway," supplied The Phantom.
"Yes. That dreadful, opinionated, hateful world that would never have accepted two queers, no matter how we looked or acted."
"Don't say that," The Phantom flared. "You're not queer!"
Impulsively, Cory dropped the mug of coffee and embraced The Phantom. "You blew up at us, you made us think about how we were behaving, you made us understand what we needed to do. You, Phantom, you understood!"
The Phantom returned Cory's embrace, holding the blond young man close. "I'm in love with you, Cory, and Todd. You were both my ideal! I didn't want to see you hurt, as that little bastard Paul Greene hurt you. I saw the look in your eyes when he cracked off about you, or Todd. I saw the hurt there!"
Slowly rubbing Cory's bare back, his fingertips gently massaging the warm skin of his friend, The Phantom continued. "I will not allow you to speak so . . . I won't allow you or any of the others to put yourselves down like that!"
Cory buried his nose in The Phantom's shoulder and smelled the unique and pleasant odour of his friend. "You've made that quite clear," he whispered. "Which is one of the reasons I love you."
The Phantom chuckled and rubbed the back of Cory's head. "I thought it was because you lusted after my buff and muscular body!" he joked.
Cory pulled away and for a long time he stared at The Phantom. "It was never that!" he said, a hint of anger in his voice. "It was never sex - well, at least it was never all sex!"
"I am slowly coming to that realization," countered The Phantom. "I don't understand it all, but . . ."
Grimacing, Cory reached out his hand to grasp The Phantom's arm. "Phantom, whether you like it or not, whether you understand it or not, you are the linchpin to our Brotherhood!"
"That I understand," said The Phantom flatly. "I'm not sure that I deserve your . . . loyalty?"
Again Cory waved his hand. "Phantom, you don't know it, but we have talked about the effect you have on us!"
"You have?"
"Fuckin' aye," growled Cory. "Michael Chan verbalized in public what we have spoken about in private!" He looked sharply at The Phantom. "I see Chef's palsied hand in that!"
The Phantom laughed dryly. "The old fool is no fool!"
"You got that right!" Cory looked into the distance. "We know, Phantom, that you are the primary figure, the golden thread, if you will, in what Michael Chan called our 'Tapestry'." He looked at The Phantom. "As a matter of fact, Tyler and I talked about it not that long ago."
"You did?" blurted a surprised Phantom. "You . . ."
Before The Phantom could complete his thought the door to he barracks opened and Fred appeared. He looked first at Cory, then at The Phantom, and said, simply, "We all did."
Settling himself beside Cory, Fred scratched absently and then spoke. "Phantom, for some strange reason and, like Cory, I cannot explain the circumstances, or the whys and wherefores, you have this way of bringing out the best in us. You make us understand the what, and the why, of our beings. There is also . . . for some reason we have all been gathered in this dismal place, and we have all come to understand that you are the reason we are here." He looked a little uncomfortable as he said, "I don't really believe in coincidence, or predestination, or anything like that, but I must admit that something brought us here."
"It doesn't matter," exclaimed Cory. "What matters is that we are here, and soon we will leave. Our time in Aurora is over."
The Phantom nodded in agreement. "And it is time to move on." He ran his hand over his face and looked at the two young men. "You really think that I'm . . ."
"We don't think, we know!" came another voice.
The Phantom, Cory, and Fred looked up to see Todd standing in the doorway. Like Cory and Fred, Todd was wearing only boxer shorts - red and blue striped. What struck the others was the effect of the rising sun. Todd, tall, slim, his well-muscled chest was barely rimed with a sheen of perspiration, and shone like polished bronze. His hair gleamed in the morning light as if made of spun gold and his blue eyes crackled with life.
"You made the difference, Phantom," said Todd. "Without you both Cory and I would still be running about dressed like caricatures, clowns, giving the proof that all gays are nothing more than prancing things!"
Slowly descending the steps, Todd stopped in front of The Phantom and placed his hands firmly on The Phantom's shoulders. "That day, when you yelled at us you were closer to the truth than you realized! You made us realize that we must . . ." he glanced at Fred, and continued, " . . . all of us, must not only understand and accept what we are, but we must never condemn ourselves for being gay."
Fred stood and spoke quietly. "Phantom, you have given all of us hope! We understand, now, many things. We understand that we can be whatever we want to be."
"We also understand that we must be more aware of our surroundings, and more discreet," interjected Cory. "By deliberately flouncing around as screaming queens . . ." He raised his hand to prevent The Phantom's interruption. "We were, Phantom. We didn't give a shit about what others thought. We were wrong. We did a disservice not only to ourselves, but to you, and our brothers."
"And we are brothers," insisted Fred. "We, and I think I speak for all of us, know what you are, what you have done, and we accept that you will lead us! We have faith in you Phantom! You are bound inextricably with us."
"We understand now what we must do, how we must conduct ourselves," said Todd. He squeezed The Phantom's shoulders gently. "When you told us about your dream, when you told us about the evil we would face, I couldn't help but think about what you really mean to us all. For some reason we have been called to arms, to fight for people like us."
The Phantom, his face flushed, reached out to hold Todd. "I am so afraid, Todd! I am not some pristine knight! I am a man, I have my faults!"
"Of course you do!" exclaimed Cory. "But you're our Prince! Michael Chan recognizes what Fred has called our faith in you. He also understands that our relationships, our lives, are part of you, just as you are part of our lives. He used the analogy of a tapestry . . ."
"I wonder how he came to use that particular analogy?" asked Fred with heavy emphasis as he looked at Cory.
"I admit it," said Cory airily. "I listened to what we said after Phantom told us about his dream and I told Chef."
"You did?" asked Todd. He gave Cory an angry look.
"I did," retorted Cory without a hint of guilt. "Chef has been taking names for a long time. He saw in Phantom something we only suspected." He shrugged expressively. "He also saw something in the rest of us that we never suspected!"
"What a conniving, sneaky old git!" Todd snapped.
"No, Todd. Chef was doing his job. What he didn't realize at the time was that we would become a tapestry." The Phantom smiled warmly. "I suspected he was up to something, but then he always is!"
"But he never chose us," offered Fred. "We chose to be a part of the tapestry." He frowned as he added, "Just as some chose not to be a part."
The Phantom nodded sadly. He knew that Fred was referring to Greg. "Deus Vult," he whispered. "Each must make his own choice."
"They have," replied Todd. "When we get on the plane . . . we are getting on plane?" he asked as he looked at The Phantom.
"Michael and I talked after the dinner," said The Phantom. "We leave at 1000 from Comox Aerodrome. We'll spend the night at his house and on Saturday morning at 0500 we leave. He's hired a private jet for us."
"Really?" asked Cory.
"Really," returned The Phantom. "Sylvain's funeral is set for 1500 on Saturday. We'll be met by a bus and taken from Quebec City to Ste-Anne-de-Beaupré. After that, anything can happen!"
"We will watch and listen," supplied Todd. He looked at Cory. "I hope Papa has told Mummy that we won't be home for a while."
"I'm sure he has," replied Cory easily. He glanced at The Phantom. "How did your people take the news?"
The Phantom returned to sit on the bottom step. "Actually, my mother was quite upset. She wanted to send flowers."
"She didn't know Sylvain," said Fred.
"No, but when it comes to kids, to young people, teenagers who die far too young, well, adults tend to sentimentality. I told my mother to just wire the flowers to the Basilica," said The Phantom. "My dad told me I had a duty to attend. He said that Sylvain, after all was said and done, was one of us and we had to be there for him."
"If Sean's father is any indication, all the parents have basically said the same thing," offered Cory. "Sean called his dad and told him what we wanted to do. Sean was very surprised when his father told him to go."
"So we all go, with the blessings of our parents," said Todd.
"To where? That is the question," interjected Cory.
"To wherever we are led," responded The Phantom. He emulated Cory by making a sweeping, all-encompassing wave of his hand, taking in the surrounding buildings and scenery. "Our time here is ended. Aurora is over!"
"You are not afraid of what lies beyond the causeway?" asked Todd.
"I am very afraid," replied The Phantom simply. "I feel, I know, that whatever it is out there, it is evil, an evil so demonic that we will never truly understand it." His emerald eyes flashed briefly. "But I also know that I must go and in my own way, fight that evil. I know in my heart that I am sailing in harm's way, that I might fall at the wayside, but still, I am going."
"We are all going," declared Fred. "A few days ago, Phantom, I listened to your dream, I listened to Cory, and I told the others that I would stand with you. No matter what happens, I will stand with you!"
Todd rose slowly from his seat and held out his hand to The Phantom. "I might not have six cannon, or my gunners, but I stand with you, Phantom," he said as he took his friend's hand. Todd's eyes took on a brilliance that could never be described. "When we talked, Fred spoke of the men of the Boys' Brigade. You, Phantom will lead us, not as boys, but as men."
"The Men of the Aurora Brigade," said Fred as he placed his hand atop Todd's.
"No, Fred," said Cory as he rose slowly. He reached out and gently caressed The Phantom's face. "Phantom will lead his knights, the Knights of Aurora!"
The End