Disclaimer: I do not own the Phantom of the Opera. I am not Gaston Leroux or Andrew Lloyd Webber. I wish I was though. Enjoy the story!
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He was coming. He would be there soon, she knew. Of course. She knew him well even as he was unaware of her presence in his life. She was always there. No matter where he went; no matter what he did. She was always right there beside him, hidden even deeper in the shadows, cloaking herself in darkness. Even as he slept, she was there, watching over him. She was the soft touch cooling the ever-present hatred and pain; giving him the ability to love another though his own mother had sold him to gypsies because she could not bear to see his face. She had been here in this labyrinth below the opera house only a little longer than he had, and she had hidden for year, watching him from the shadows; not letting him know that she was there. Not till now.
Through watching, she had learned. She had seen him without his mask. She had been there in his dark times: those times when he would sit by the underground lake with his head in his hands, utterly depressed. She would comfort him. He never knew it was her, for when he would look about for whose shadow-clad limbs had draped about his shoulders she would disappear once more to the darkest corner of the labyrinth; to corridors and rooms hidden deeper than those he knew of.
She had aided him in attempting to court that vapid chorus-girl Christine Daae, but he had not known. When Erik had designed the wedding gown meant for Christine, she had been the dummy. It was easy to be still as a wooden figure, and her own skin held less warmth than Erik's own frozen hands. At times when Erik would stumble during the creation of his opera she would hum a tune from her place behind the mirror to inspire him. She was always there for him, and as time went by she grew to love him as he loved Christine. As Erik was Christine Daae's Angel of Music, so too was she his.
He would come. He was on his way here even now. She had been waiting where he had left her when he went to triumph in his own opera, and so she heard the outcry at the death of that untalented performer Piangi. She had heard Erik coming with Christine, and so she had slipped away into the secret passages behind Erik's throne so that she would not have to see the confrontation with the chorus-girl's lover. Now she could hear his voice, her poor Erik's voice, singing a single line in despair:
"You alone can make my song take flight—
It's over now, the music of the night!"
No, she thought, no, dear Erik, it is not over, merely beginning.
He was coming. She could hear the enraged voices above, and the almost silent tapping of Erik's shoes as he ran down the passageway. Softly, she sang to Erik, leading him to where she stood.
"I am your angel,
Come to me, Angel of Music…
I am your Angel of Music…
Come to me, Angel of Music…"
Erik turned the corner and stopped, quickly covering the right side of his face with his hand as he saw her standing there. Saw her standing draped in a long black cloak with a hood like his own.
"Damn," he muttered, "Maybe I should have brought my mask with me instead of leaving it for them to find."
"There is no need for masks here, dear Phantom," she replied, throwing back the black hood that covered her face and shrugging back her cape over her shoulder. Burn scars ran from her hairline at the right side of her face down to the tips of her finders on that arm. "I am Leyla Selena." She stepped forward, bringing her hand up to touch his face. Erik backed away. "I am not about to hurt you, Erik. I, too, have been called a monster with the voice of an angel." She touched his face, caressing the wicked scars, and this time Erik did not flinch away. He recognized her voice and the gentleness of her touch.
"You were the voice in the darkness," Erik breathed, "You were the soft touch that allowed me to love."
"Yes. I am your Angel of Music," Leyla sang, using words that she had heard Erik himself singing. She sang to calm him; she sang to show him that he could trust her.
"Night-time sharpens, heightens each sensation…
Darkness stirs and wakes imagination…
Silently the senses abandon their defenses…
Slowly, gently, night unfurls its splendour…
Grasp it, sense it—tremulous and tender…
Turn your face away from the garish light of day,
Turn your thoughts away from cold, unfeeling light—
And listen to the music of the night…
Close your eyes and surrender
To your darkest dreams!
Purge your thoughts of the life you knew before!
Close your eyes, let your spirit start to soar!
And you'll live as you've never lived before…
Softly, deftly, music shall surround you…
Feel it, hear it, closing in around you…
Open up your mind,
Let your fantasies unwind,
In this darkness which you know
You cannot fight—
The darkness of the music of the night."
Leyla's hand strayed from the scars on Erik's face to brush lightly over his lips, then his eyes, and then his hand, which she lightly grasped and brought to her own scarred face.
"Floating, falling, sweet intoxication!
Touch me, trust me, savour each sensation!
Let the dream begin, let your darker side give in
To the power of the music that I write—
The power of the music of the night…"
Erik had joined in singing with Leyla, but his voice faltered and stopped at the last line. He could not sing it for anyone but Christine, but Leyla was not singing for Christine. She was singing for Erik. She put as much emotion into that last line as she could, wrapping her arms tightly around Erik's waist.
"You alone can make my song take flight—
Help me make the music of the night!"
Though Leyla had been in the hidden passages behind Erik's throne during the confrontation between him and Christine's lover, she had heard the last words that Christine had sung to her dear Phantom. Leyla had heard the Daae girl call Erik pitiful, and she now sang those words to him again, changing a few things to fit the feelings she was trying to convey.
"Beautiful creature of darkness…
I've lived the life you have known…
God give me courage to show you
You are not alone!"
With that, Leyla kissed Erik long and full on the lips, putting all her love into the kiss. Then she rested her head on his chest, still embracing him, and sang:
"Say you'll share with me
One love, one lifetime…
Say the word and I will follow you…
Share each day with me,
Each night, each morning…
Anywhere you go let me go too…" Leyla's voice crescendoed, then subsided to a very soft tone, almost a whisper. She sang.
"Erik, I love you…"
She stepped back, gently taking Erik's hand once again.
"Come with me, Erik, my dear Phantom. I know of a place where you can be happy. You will no longer be hunted, no longer called a monster. You can grow to forget Christine Daae; learn to love another. You can be the Angel of Music again."
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Okay, so that's the story. This was my first story on Fanfic, so I hope you liked it! Reviews are very welcome.
--TayuyaFluteofDeath