Title: Life Love & Lust
By: LittleLotteEriksTrueAngel
FF.N: LittleLottexoxEriksTrueAngel
Summary: There is a death in the royal family and Madeleine is desperate to get out, but there is only one thing stopping her, her son Erik. Only one person can help her and her name is Christine. EC
Chapter One: Think Of Me Fondly
Chapter One: Part One
"Here Lies
Charles Destler
Faithful King, Husband and Father"
Last night, the whole kingdom joined together to mourn the death of our beloved King, the great Charles Destler. The funeral was in no way a small affair; however no tears were shed, as everyone followed the lead of Queen Madeleine, who shed no tears herself during the entire service. Prince Erik, as always, kept his hood over his head concealing his masked face. It is rumored that he had been hiding his happiness at the death of his father; others say it was to hide his grief, and some say he was ashamed. Alas, all I know for sure is that our beloved King would always remain in our hearts and his kindness, compassion, caring, and generosity towards his people will always and forever be remembered by us, his people, and our descendents.
Erik threw the paper into the fire in anguish. His father's death tormented and haunted him….It was eating away at him. His sweet, sweet music was his only consolation, and even that pained him…
Chapter One: Part Two
Christine sat silently in her dressing room. Her breath was coming in short, labored breaths and her heart was pounding like a drum in her chest. Did that really just happen? Christine was to sing the lead tonight in Hannibal, a beautiful, yet tragic Opera, because the Prima Donna (Carlotta) had stormed off? Carlotta claimed that the 'Opera Ghost' was haunting her, so she threw a fit and left. The last thing Christine expected was to be given the lead…and on such short notice too! Christine, a simple chorus girl, a lowly ballet rat!, was to sing the lead in tonight's production of Hannibal. Rumors were spreading like wildfire through the kingdom, everyone knew about the performance tonight, and were all eager to see what all the fuss was about…including the royal family. And Christine was not about to turn them down. She needed this, for herself and for her family…well, her father anyway.
//flashback//
A few, long weeks ago, Christine awoke early to prepare breakfast for her parents. Silently, she lit a candle in her bedroom and pulled a dressing gown over her corset and stockings. After pinning her unruly curls up into a bun, Christine opened the door and gasped at what she saw…everything in the house was gone, well everything worth any money, and her father sat silently at the table…a piece of paper clenched in his fist. Slowly, Christine approached him and timidly placed her hand on his shoulder. He turned and looked at her with wild, pained eyes.
"She's gone." he whispered brokenly.
"Who, papa, who?" Christine asked, although she already had a pretty good idea about who he was speaking of. Her mother had been having an affair and did not make it a point to hide it from her or her father. She had run off with the man, leaving only a short letter and taking all of the small family's money and everything that was worth something.
"Your mother Christine, she is gone." He said.
"Papa…"
"She ran off with that man!" he spat in disgust.
"I know"…
//end flashback//
After that Christine had gotten a job at the Opera house and had thus far only been in a few productions, which is why when being offered the chance to sing the lead tonight she had been nothing short of shocked, to say the least, and had almost thought it a joke. After taking the part, Christine had been thrust into a whirlwind of fittings, private rehearsals, and finally the final dress rehearsal late in the afternoon.
Even now, as she sat at the dressing table in her bedroom, Christine found it hard to believe what was about to happen. Christine found it hard to believe that in an hour, she would be performing the lead of an Opera as her father sat in the front row with an encouraging smile on his face. Christine found it terribly hard to believe…
♪●♫●♪
Queen Madeleine paced her chambers frantically. She felt claustrophobic in her own castle and now that Charles was gone nothing could console her, not even the music that once used to soothe her heart. Erik was nowhere to be found, most likely composing his 'masterpiece', as her husband would have called it. Her heart clenched and she suppressed a sob at the thought of her diseased husband. There has to be something that we could do to take our minds off of this tragedy…this loss…Then, Madeline came up with a brilliant idea, she and Erik would go to the Opera…
♪●♫●♪
"It will be good for the both of us Erik!" Madeleine argued, after Erik declined her offer about attending the Opera together.
"No Mother, it really won't." Erik replied with a finality and coldness that he acquired recently, when his father grew ill.
"Erik! You know that is not true! This will help, Erik, I assure you—"
"NO, it won't!!" Erik bellowed, his anger was plainly evident.
"But, Erik," He glared at his mother angrily, before she added, "Your father would have wanted us to go."
Erik stared at her, his eyes began to water at the thought of his father, all the times they had attended the Opera together, cringing at Carlotta's voice, and the promises that he had made his father before his death…
Charles Destler stared at the flame of the candle on his bedside table. A tumor was slowly eating away at him and he knew he had little time left. What do you do when you know you are dying…?
Suddenly there was a knock on the door of his chambers.
"Come in." he said as loud as he could, which was not very loud, barely a whisper. Erik walked into the room, trying to put on a smile for his father though both knew it was useless.
"Father," Erik said nodding, taking a seat at his father's bedside.
"Erik, I asked that you come here for a reason," Charles Destler whispered to his son. Erik did not even look at him...the pain of watching his father slip away before his eyes, being powerless to stop it, was tearing him apart and he didn't want his father to see this pain…he wanted his father to think that everything was alright…Erik did not want Charles to worry.
"Erik I know that you do not want me to worry or to be scared, but the truth is that I am scared." Erik opened his mouth to reply but was silenced as Charles continued "Erik I am not scared to die I am scared about what will happen to you and your Mother when I am gone." Erik looked at his father and with a voice full of emotions that he could not explain he asked his father, "Why?"
"The reason is that you are too much like me, Erik. Your temper, your insane thirst for perfection, and your passion for music…All I need you to do for me now is promise me that you won't stop doing any of these things when I am gone, Erik. You must promise me that you will continue to compose your masterpiece, continue to attend the Opera, continue what you love…to find love."
There was a long silence before Charles urged, "Promise me, Erik!"
"I promise."
And with that Erik stood to leave. He smiled at his father from the doorway.
"I love you." He murmured before closing the door behind him.
That was the night before he died…
Suddenly, Erik snapped out of his revere and mumbled, "Fine", to his mother and left the room to ready himself for the night's performance.
♪●♫●♪
Chapter One: Part Three
Think of me
Think of me fondly
When we've said goodbye
Remember me every so often
Promise me you'll try
On that day - that not so distant day
When you are far away and free
If you ever find a moment
Spare a thought for me
Erik had never been so transfixed, so perplexed, or so utterly stunned in his entire life. When coming to an Opera one expects to cringe in distress at the sound of Carlotta's screechy voice, but tonight was the exact opposite. Nothing could have prepared him for the great beauty on the stage before him.
And though it's clear
Though it was always clear
That this was never meant to be
If you happen to remember
Stop and think of me
. Her dark brown curls were hanging lose on her shoulders; she had blue eyes which looked like the sky after a summer storm, and porcelain skin that glimmered under the stage lights. She looked like one of God's angels and she sang with a voice that proved to the entire audience that she was. Listening to her sing was pure and utter bliss, especially for Erik, and although he could tell that she was not properly trained, he could not take his eyes off of her.
Think of August when the trees were green
Don't think about the way things might have been
Think of me
Think of me waking
Silent and resigned
Imagine me trying too hard to put you from my mind
Think of me please say you'll think of me
Whatever else you choose to do
There will never be a day when
I won't think of you
He felt a strange flutter in his heart that he had never felt before and his eyes shimmered with unknown love, which didn't go unnoticed by Madeleine, a plan formulating in her mind…
Flowers fade
The fruits of summer fade
They have their season so do we
But please promise me that sometimes
You will Think Of Me…
♪●♫●♪
…But please promise me that sometimes
You will Think Of Me...
Christine stood on the stage smiling as the song came to a close. Even now, after everything was said and done, she found it hard to believe that she was the one everyone was applauding for, she was the one who had just sung one of the most beautiful aria to the entire kingdom, and she felt like in just a few, short minutes she would awaken to find it was all a dream. But no matter how hard she tried to convince herself that this wasn't really happening, the more she realized that this was not a dream, it was reality. The curtains closed in a swirl of red silk as flowers were thrown towards the stage.
Christine face was a light with happiness as she took her final curtain call. The whole audience was standing and applauding for her. Tonight, Christine had brought the entire kingdom to their feet…
♪●♫●♪
Erik silently crept out of box five unnoticed as the curtain closed below him. Gracefully he walked down the small hallway until he found the hidden door on the farthest wall. Erik just had to see the angel, as he was sure that was what she was, and make sure that she was real. He followed the winding path of his underground corridor to the leading lady's dressing room, and passively watched her from behind her mirror. She was the most stunning woman he had ever seen in his entire life. She seemed so loving, and gentle, and good towards the older man in the room with her-whom she addressed as father. He stood watching her, entranced with her beauty and voice until she stepped behind the changing screen. Erik's heart sank as she disappeared from view and he walked down the corridor, back up to the main floor. The image of the perfect, beautiful angel that Erik had just encountered never disappeared from his mind. He found himself yearning to be near her, and to hear her sing for him, and only him, but he knew that those were impossible dreams. No matter what, no beautiful woman would ever look upon him in love. It was better for him to just admire her from afar…
♪●♫●♪
Christine felt a strange sense of foreboding. The entire performance went by in a blur, but after that she could not shake the feeling that someone was following her…watching her. Even as she sat in her dressing room, with her father, Christine felt a pair of unknown eyes on her, it scared her and she shivered as if she knew what was going to come…
A/N What do you think? Review! This is the first chapter so it is kind of slow. I would really appreciate any feedback you have…flames are welcome of course!