Okay, who thinks that Robert Carlyle got snubbed for not being nominated for an Emmy? Or any of the other actors and anything else for that matter?

On another note, I saw the Comic-Con teaser for the next season on youtube, and I have to say that I'm really excited. Captain Hook? Mulan? Fall can't come soon enough. Then again, I will be back at school, and that's something I don't want to think about at the moment.

Anyway, here's the sequel I promised, or at least just the beginning. Rated T for the same reasons as the original.

I don't own the Phantom of the Opera or Once Upon a Time.

Everyone forgot the incident of the Opera Ghost in the Kingdom. Or at least, it was the last thing they wanted to think about at the moment. Prince James and Snow White's wedding was the most exciting news and next was the panic of a Dark Curse that would sweep the Kingdom away from their happiness and love.

This did not affect Erik whatsoever. He had nothing to be happy about and his heart was already broken. He had tried doing his research on the Curse, just out of curiosity for the most part, but apparently the Curse was so horrible that no one dared to write about it in even books that were used by the darkest beings. It didn't matter though; because he couldn't use magic, magic had little to no effect on him. This curse seemed quite powerful, so he would probably receive some damage. No matter: Whatever little effect this curse would have on him, it's not as though it would make much of a difference to him. Either he would live, or he would die. It was just two different sides of the same coin.

Still, whenever that day would come he would simply let it sweep over him and get it over and done with. In fact, he would stand right outside in front of it, almost taunting it.

That's what he decided to do one cool evening, when the sky turned darker than usual and even the stars wanted to hide. There he stood in a solitary field, the wind blowing against his masked face. Show me what you have, your majesty he thought see if I care about your plans.

"Erik?" he heard a familiar voice call. He turned around and saw a crimson red-cloaked young woman that framed her dark her, a look of confusion on her face. "Erik, what in the world are you doing out here?"

"Waiting," he replied, "waiting for the Curse."

"Well, I certainly wouldn't be standing out in the open like this if I don't want to be blown away… say, are you scared? Not even a little bit?"

"No, I can't say I am; I've already seen more than enough to not be scared of the queen. Are you?"

"I suppose I am a little. I mean, the queen said that this would take away everything we love. What if this even kills us all?"

"If it does, I can only hope that it would be quick and that the queen would be generous enough to not let those who are innocent suffer." Suddenly the air became colder and the wind blew faster by the second. Then they could see darkness charging toward them. "Go," He said.

"But what about you?"

"Just go the shelter before you get hurt. Go!" With that, Red quickly made her way back to her home. A few minutes later swirling darkness like storm clouds were right in front of him, nearly blowing his cloak off his shoulders. He had to bend his knees just to stand on two feet. But he wasn't going to stop standing, wasn't going to give her the satisfaction that she had weakened him. He looked the darkness directly in the eye before all went black.

OoOoOo

All was calm as some familiar shapes came to view. Then there was the sound of water dripping. Erik looked around and saw a cracked mirror across from him, the left side of his face making a somewhat awkward reflection. This was his lair, his home. He touched the right side of his face, only to quickly pull it away. His mask had been lost in the madness. Was he still in the Kingdom? He wanted to go out to see for himself, but not without something to cover his face. He walked a little further through the lair and saw his fedora placed by his organ, just as he left it before, only this time a piece of black cloth was attached to the brim, just enough to cover his face. It would have to do. After placing his hat on his head, he quickly made his way up to the world.

His eyes were met with bright sunlight reflecting off the shining windows of shops. He easily recognized many faces, but they all seemed different somehow. Everyone was here… could that mean Red made it here too?

He searched the streets, receiving stares from pedestrians, but noticed that there were no screams or people trying to push him to the ground and apprehend him, until he found a peculiar little place; Granny's Café it was called. There he saw Red, different looking and certainly less… modest to put it frankly, but it was most certainly her. He swung open the door and walked right up to her.

"Oh, hey, Erik," she said.

"Red, are you all right?" he said.

"Uh, yeah… I'm fine. And why are you calling me Red?"

"Well, if you're not Red then who are you?"

"I'm Ruby, Erik, you know that."

"Whatever your name is, why aren't you wearing your hood? There's a full moon out tonight."

"My…hoodie? Is that what you mean? I have no idea what the moon has to do with this and it's eighty-five degrees out and not everyone can wear black all the time without sweating, you know." She gave a little chuckle after this, referring to how her friend always wore his dark suit even in the hottest of weather without even having breathing trouble. Erik, however, didn't see the humor in this.

"I mean-" Erik said. Then he suddenly stopped himself. This must be what the Curse has done; no one remembers who they really are and this must be the world they've been sent to. And if that meant nobody remembered, then there was still a second chance. Yes, now all he had to do was play along. "I mean, so sorry, Ruby; I'm afraid I haven't been well lately. You'll have to excuse my behavior."

"Oh, don't worry about it. By the way, I bumped into Mr. Gold and he said he wanted me to tell you that he wanted to talk to you about something in his shop."

"Ah, thank you." Mr. Gold… Erik couldn't be positive about who he was, but he had a good guess. Sure enough, there was a somewhat dark building and inside Erik saw many sorts of unusual wares. It was most certainly a pawnshop. Yes, Rumplestiltskin had not given up on making deals. He did, however, certainly look much different. His hair was clean and neatly parted and his face was not nearly as malicious looking. He wore a formal suit even though it was not necessary and walked with a cane. Had he injured himself during the transition?

"Hello, Opera Ghost," he said in a relaxed voice while walking out from behind the counter, "what a pleasant surprise."

"I could say the same as well, Rumpelstiltskin. Now, would you please be so kind as to tell me what the hell just happened?"

"Don't you know? This is the Curse. It's changed us all, you know. You, me, and the queen are the only ones who still have their memories intact. But I wouldn't go telling all the townspeople about this; the queen has her ways of eliminating you. Yes, I realize that you could care less about what she thinks, but remember: the queen has many ways of taking away things we hold dear."

"Fine. Just tell me about what everybody thinks when they see me."

"Well, I suppose it goes without saying that you and Red, pardon me, Ruby, are still friends. Everyone else thinks of you as very peculiar, but would rather not try to challenge you, Erik Specter. Yes, you have a last name here. Still, no one knows about your whereabouts under Storybrooke Theatre. Where is it? Still in the same location as the opera house. However, you do have a home of your own as well. Which, of course, you pay the bills to me."

"Why you…" Erik growled. Why did he even bother asking him about what was going on? He should have known this was going to be just another plot to make Rumpelstiltskin, er, Mr. Gold, richer.

"Now, now, don't get hasty, dearie; everyone's got to pay the bills and they all go to the same people; Madame Mayor's, that's the queen, and myself. Besides, with you taking $20,000 from the theatre as your 'salary', you should have more than enough to take care of yourself and pay your bills. As a matter of fact, let me lead the way to it; I'm about to go on my lunch break."

Mr. Gold turned the "open" sign so that it read "closed" on the window of the door before exited with Erik. After walking for a few minutes, they arrived at Erik's home. The door was unlocked. It was no surprise seeing as there wasn't much anyone could steal. There was nothing but a couch, table, and chandelier to furnish the house. Even though Erik had obviously not seen this place before, it felt strangely familiar to him, as though he had entered it many times before, as though this was part of his daily routine. Perhaps the curse had a greater effect on him than he predicted.

"Now then," Mr. Gold said, "if that is all you need, then I will be on my way." Erik waited until he left before closing the door behind him.

"Christine," he said, "if you are out there wherever you are, I want to promise you that as long as I'm here, I won't kill anyone else. Will that make you happy, Christine? If I don't take anyone else's life? Whatever makes you happy, my love, and I will comply."

The rest of the story you know very well. But there is much more to this story, and now you will find out just what is happening now.

OoOoOo

"So that's how you got here?" Emma asked, "That's your story?" The first thing Henry wanted to do after he was discharged from the hospital was to see how Erik was doing now. Erik's house was no longer safe to enter, since there would certainly be people there to apprehend him, so they had to resort to having a chat in his lair, where nobody could quite find their way back to it after the incident.

After Rumpelstiltskin brought magic back to this world, a great war has started in Storybrooke; It was Queen Regina and her army vs. everyone else, although no one knew just what side Rumpelstiltskin was on. It seemed, however, that his decisions were influenced by his reunited love, Belle, who was living with him for the time being.

"Yes, Sheriff Swan," Erik said, "but now there's even more danger here, more than ever. The queen is not going to give up now that magic has returned. And now that you, Henry, are with your rightful mother… well, she has even more fury now." He was certainly not blind to the queen's fury; he remembered the first time he made a rather unfortunate encounter with her…

OoOoOo

"Unhand me!" Erik shouted as he was being dragged by two of the queen's knights. He struggled to break free, but these men were strong. This was the last time he was going to let his guard down anywhere.

It was just another night to him; he was out shopping at market, buying food and other supplies from the few vendors that were open so late at night. Most of them were selling magical items, which of course had no use to him, but there were still some people selling the things that he needed. There were a lot of strange people that came to visit during the night, so Erik blended in perfectly and looked like just another patron.

"Oops! Pardon me," someone said when he accidentally bumped into Erik.

"Ah, that's alr-" Erik said before seeing the man's face. That voice, that stupid grin… he knew who that was. "I know you…"

"Do you now?" Rumpelstiltskin said, "How flattering. I had no idea."

"Oh, I'm quite sure you knew; everybody knows who you are. But why are you here? You have enough magic to produce all you need." Rumpelstiltskin gave a wag of his finger.

"Tch tch tch. You silly fool who knows no magic. I thought that even you would know that all magic comes with a price. But I guess your not a clever as I thought. Ah well. You did humor me, though. Perhaps we shall meet again." And with that, Rumpelstiltskin walked away into the distance.

"And I hope I shall never have to see you again," muttered Erik before leaving.

By now, Erik would be making his way home as quickly as possible, for the Kingdom was especially dangerous at night. But there was something about tonight, the air smelled strangely seductive, the wind silent, and the temperate quite cool. If only Christine were here beside him to enjoy this night, smiling, resting her head on his shoulder, humming a sweet melody…

This distraction proved to be dangerous when Erik felt a sudden, sharp pain in his left shoulder. He looked down and saw an arrow lodged into it.

"You fool, I said not to try and kill him!" an angry voice said. Erik quickly pulled out the arrow, threw it to the ground, dropped his supplies and ran.

"There he is!" another voice said. Following that was the sound of hoof beats of horses, approaching louder, closer, faster. Erik was no fool; he knew he couldn't outrun ten men on horses and wielding weapons. He could, however, outwit them.

With a turn of his cloak, he seemed to disappear into thin air. He heard the horse's hooves come to a sudden halt and the confused voices of knights.

"Where did he go?"

"He was just here!"

"This is impossible!"

"That way! There he is!" Erik was able to hide himself long enough to get ahead, but they were catching up to him. Still, if only he could just make it to the opera house, then he'll be safe; those knights will never be able to survive a freezing swim through the underground lake.

Then he tripped. He wasn't sure what it was, probably a fallen tree. Now the knights had encircled him and he couldn't just create an illusion now. That didn't stop him, however, from struggling to break free as he was being dragged to the queen's throne room.

"Your majesty," one of the knights said, "we have him."

"Excellent," Regina said. A moment later Erik was thrown to his knees before her, two knights standing on either side of him. She gave a grin to him that made him feel sick. "Let me make sure, however, that you are the one." With a swoop of her arm, Regina snatched off Erik's mask, revealing his hideous face. A few knights shuddered a bit. Regina, however, still had that disgusting grin on her face before putting his mask back on. "Yes, you are indeed the one."

"What do what?" he hissed, "I did nothing to you!"

"Oh I know that. But you will be doing something for me when your time comes. Yes, I know what you are and you're just one of the pieces I'll need. Take him away."

A moment later Erik was dragged on his knees to the dungeon and tossed into a cell. The door slammed and the lock sealed. Erik groaned as he rubbed his head. He knew he had to get out of here, but not at the moment. Right now he had to get his strength back. He did not have to worry about being executed; the queen wouldn't dare eliminate him, even if he were to severely offend her.

"Hit your head on the way in here, dearie?"

Erik looked over and saw Rumpelstiltskin leaning against the adjacent wall, a mocking expression across his face.

"You again?" Erik shouted.

"I told you that perhaps we'd meet again. I just didn't expect it to be so soon. And apparently you didn't either."

"Unless you're here to help me get out of here, get the hell away from me!"

"Oh I'll help you escape. In fact, I could do so much more to help you. Maybe even get rid of that." He pointed to Erik's mask.

"No thank you. I know that you'll want something in return. Besides, not even your magic can affect me."

"Suit yourself." Rumpelstiltskin snapped his fingers and in a poof of smoke he disappeared.

Meanwhile, Erik had devised a plan. He found a length of rope lying on the ground and knotted it into a Punjab lasso. Then he hung it to the ceiling of the cell. After finding an old wooden box that was just enough to support his weight he draped the loop around his neck. All he had to do now was wait.

After about half an hour he heard the door open. It was a warden that was probably checking on how his was faring. Perfect. The warden looked over and saw Erik with the rope around his neck.

"Oh no you don't," the warden said charging toward him. He quickly unlocked the door and right as he was about to toss Erik out of the noose, he dodged out of the way, catching the warden instead. Without saying another word, Erik ran out of the open cell and out of the dungeon.

News must travel fast in the castle because as Erik had spent about fifteen minutes trying to locate his way out of the castle, he overheard a conversation in the queen's throne room.

"Your majesty, the prison has escaped!"

"Let him go."

"What?"

"Yes, let him run. I may not be able to use him now, but just wait; he can run from me, but he can't hide forever. He'll realize that when the perfect time comes."

Why would the queen just let him go? There was no logical explanation. Still, he wasn't about to turn himself in. Before long he sneaked his way through the exit of the castle and located the opera house once more.

OoOoOo

Now Erik knew what the queen was waiting for. He once considered telling Emma or Ruby or even Henry what he was, but doing so would put them in danger. He realized that the only time he could tell any of them was when that moment came. And he had a feeling that it would be soon.

Read and review as always.