Hey, guys!
So after moving continets, I am so glad to be back with you guys. Here's a little something I wrote while waiting for my luggage at 4 am.
I've always wondered what would happen if Daae and Erik met. If you've wondered the same, read on...
Erik strode confidently through the graveyard, his violin case in one hand and his sanity far behind him.
Christine was still at the Opera house, but he had a suspicion she'd come to the graveyard soon enough. The girl relied on her father even years after his death. As often as she could, she'd take the train to Perros, in order to 'see' her Father.
At first, Erik had followed her like usual, filled with curiosity. After all, what should his Christine need outside the Opera?
But then he had seen just how intimate the girl got with the cold stone crypt. She'd sit and lean her head on the steps, her lovely curls hiding her face- and her fear. He'd heard her at night-quietly asking what to do. And in those moments, Erik always felt guilt. Guilt that he must win his beloved through deception and lies.
Erik shook his head, banishing such negative thoughts. One more trick, he'd said to himself. One more great magic trick, and she is mine.
He found Daae's crypt close to the back. At first, he'd wondered how such a poor musician could afford a final resting place as grand as this, but after some gentle questioning, Christine revealed that her 'Mama' had paid for the crypt for her late friend. Erik had investigated the doctor's wife before- she had seemed harmless and made Christine happy, which suited him fine. Unless, of course, she tried to keep Christine from him. But at the moment, she was more than aiding Erik.
After breaking the lock in the back, Erik snuck into the crypt, pulling his cape- and the door- behind him.
Erik's eyes instantly adjusted perfectly to the dim lighting, yet the place made him feel uneasy. The rank smell of death hung in the air, and the walls seemed to press around him.
Get used to it, he advised himself. For this is how you are doomed to spend eternity.
He cleared his throat and opened his violin case.
"Do, Re, Mi..." Slowly but surely he warmed up, letting his voice bounce around the tomb. He then threw it outside to the nearby graves, testing to see his range. Satisfied, Erik drew his bow and pulled it over the violin strings.
In a few minutes, the instrument was warmed up, but that didn't stop Erik. He played on and on, letting the haunting melody fill the chamber. He was so caught up in the song that he didn't notice a white figure raising from Daae's coffin.
He did notice,however, when the figure streaked towards him, screaming with rage.
Erik screamed in fear, gripping the neck of his violin and wielding it above his head. He made a clumsy swing and the violin cut through the figure.
The man- the ghost- looked down and screamed again at Erik. His eyes bulged as he recognized Erik.
"You!" The man rasped, pointing a transparent finger at Erik, who was silently shaking. Who was this man? Were ghosts real? Erik had always believed that ghosts were a myth made up to frighten children in the night, but now one stood before him.
"Wh-who are you?" Erik asked, hating the tremor in his voice.
The man didn't reply, he just stood there shaking with anger. "You're the bastard who's been stalking my daughter?"
All at once Erik recognized the man in a horrified rush. The man in the picture on Christine's nightstand, the man whose sketch hung in her mamas home-
It was Christine's father. And he was not happy with Erik.
"Monsieur Daae, my name is Erik and-"
"Oh, I know all about you, Erik. I come to heaven ready to fulfill my promise to my daughter, and I am told I can't due to some lustful stalker." He saw Erik's violin still held in the air and frowned. "Going to knock me out with that, boy?" He asked, disapproval written on his face. "It's a an instrument of music, not a weapon."
Almost sheepishly, Erik lowered the violin, not taking his eyes off the Specter, who was currently walking around the crypt, eyeing the dust.
"Does nobody ever tend in here?" He asked, disgusted by a dead rat on his coffin. "And for that matter, why on Earth are you in here?"
"Just Christine." Erik replied steadily, although his pulse was skyrocketing. "And she replaces your flowers every Thursday and Tuesday morning." He ignored the man's second question- he seemed annoyed enough, and Erik knew all about keeping spirits happy.
The ghost stopped and stared at Erik. "You see? That's stalking, and Christine does not approve of it." He shook his head while Erik smirked at him.
"No, but she approves the watch of her Angel.." Suddenly struck by how strange the situation was, he silently laughed.
Which was unfortunate for him, as Daae suddenly appeared and hovered off the ground, grabbing the front of Erik's cloak and heaved him off the ground. Erik experienced a rare moment of panic. The ghost was easily a foot shorter than him, and yet here he was. For that matter, ghost don't have muscles, so how was this possible? How was any of this possible?
"You think this is funny?" Daae hissed in Swedish, which Erik was thankfully able to follow after learning it to understand Christine's mumblings.
"I'm generally a very peaceful person, but you make my blood boil, Phantom. My daughter is now more broken than ever. She is confused and believes I have betrayed her. She's fears for her life,and for good reason too! I ought to slam you down the steps till your neck breaks!"
Erik was completely out of his element. He pretended to be a ghost because he did but believe in such things, but others did and he could use that to his advantage. He couldn't be here, Erik told himself.
"I've had too much opium again." He said simply. "This is yet another hallucination of my conscience trying-"
He never finished the sentence because Daae hurled him across the room, and Erik hit the wall and slid down. He swore and readjusted his mask and held his sore arm.
"What was that for?" He yelled at Daae.
"That feel like a hallucination, boy?" Daae asked, floating near the ceiling.
Erik rubbed his arm and stood up, keeping his anger in check. His hands had gone straight through Daae, so he couldn't hurt him, but Daae could clearly hurt Erik.
"Why my daughter, boy? Out of all the girls, why did you target her?"
"I didn't target her, Monsieur. I..I fell in love with her." Erik rubbed the tips of his thumbs together, one of his nervous habits. Sensing Daae's gaze boring into him, he quickly added, " She is not only one of the most beautiful girl I've ever seen, but her voice is so touched with angelic talent and her kindness toward all she meets and the way she looks after the younger girls and..." Erik realized he was rambling and quickly stopped, trying to ignore the look on Daae's face.
"Dear God." Daae dead panned, staring at him in horror. "You really do love her." He sighed loudly. "I was hoping it was just a passing obsession. But you really, truly love her."
Erik gritted his teeth. "I do. And and to win her I must get that boy out of the way-"
"Oh yes! How is Raoul? Such an nice boy!"
"He's the one you want marrying your daughter." Erik snipped, eyes darkening.
Daae frowned and sat on his coffin. "I want Christine to marry whoever makes her happy. I want her to be as in love as I was with her Mother." Daae got a wistful look on his face and Erik started to slowly sneak toward the back of the crypt.
"And if you love her, than that's what you should want. If she is happy with Raoul, she should marry Raoul. If she's happy with you, than she should marry you."
"She will marry me!" Erik cried indignantly, forgetting his mission to escape the crypt.
"Christine is merely confused when she believes she loves the fop. She will only be happy-"
Anger flared in Daae's eyes as he suddenly appeared inches from Erik's face. "She will only be happy when she can decide for herself!"
Erik was taken aback by this statement. "Decide?"
"Yes! Freedom of choice! Familiar with the phrase? You've wanted the same thing!"
Erik's anger matched the ghost's. "How do you know that?" He asked in a steady, anger- filled voice.
Daae snorted. "While you were busy corrupting my daughters free will, I was looking into your history. Listen," Daae sighed, once more sitting on his coffin, "I understand you don't have it easy. I've seen what you've done and what you've been through- and yes, I know what your face looks like."
Erik's hands flew up to his mask, as though making sure it hadn't slipped.
"Christine wasn't frightened by it. Not truly." Daae revealed.
"LIES!" Erik roared, his Punjab lasso dangling uselessly in his hands. "I saw the fear and hate in her eyes, the way she screamed and hid her own lovely face-"
"I'M NOT SAYING SHE THOUGHT IT WAS A ANGELS FACE!" Daae yelled, ignoring the irony. "SHE WAS SHOCKED, YES- IT'S NOT EXACTLY A COMMON SIGHT. BUT SHE WAS FAR MORE FRIGHTENED OF YOUR REACTION, YOU NOSELESS IDIOT!"
Both men were silent.
"What did you say?" Erik said, breathing heavily.
"I called you a noseless idiot-"
"Before that."
Daae stared at him. "I said she was more scared of your temper than she was of your face. That's what's been keeping her away from you. Your face may have shattered her illusion, but I raised her better than to stay away for that reason."
Daae glanced at Erik and said, "sit down, boy."
Against his better judgment, still shocked by the revaluation Daae had said, Erik sat.
"Christine and I were quite poor." Daae said, a wave of nostalgia hitting him. "We slept in barns and Christine always kept a brave face. Then one night, try as we might, we couldn't find anyplace to sleep. Christine was around 7 then- she was getting tired and a bit grumpy."
Erik nodded. He has been singing to Christine one night when she utterly snapped and essentially banned him from her dorm at night.
"A man called to us from an alley." Daae continued. "He said he was willing to share his shelter with us. I was hesitant at first- but Christine walked right over and accepted. I kept a close hold on her as we followed the man- who kept his face hidden in the shadows.
"He provided us a place to sleep in exchange for a song. He had been in the crowd who'd watched is play earlier that day, and he'd wanted to help us.
"We finally saw him there, in the light of a lantern he lit for us.
"He was scarred and blind in one eye, and said that he had been mauled by a dog. He couldn't work because of his blindness, but he was grateful to hear. Christine sang for him then."
Daae saw Erik's puzzled expression and rolled his eyes. "My point, boy, is that Christine has not grown up surrounded by beauty, and has not been spared from the horrors of the world. She was always much more frightened of the men who threatened us, then the men who who didn't look 'right'. And that applies to you, Erik." Daae said, using Erik's name for the first time. "I can't stop you from carrying out this mindless hunt. I can't stop her or you, or anything that's coming. I can only warn you." He floated over to Erik, who stood up to face the Specter. "If you love my daughter as much as you claim to, then let her choose. She will give you another chance, I promise- but you need to act very carefully." Daae looked down, suddenly seeming to be hundreds of years old.
Erik had nothing to say. Christine, give him another chance? Impossible. He had to have her, had to make sure she was his alone-
But even Erik didn't believe his own reasoning. Deep down, he knew Daae was right. Christine would never love him if he imprisoned her.
Erik shook his head and shoved the feeling down. Daae sighed, guessing what was going on inside the genius' head.
"I will...reflect on your advice." Erik finally muttered, unable to look Daae in the face.
There was a sudden neigh of a horse in the distance and both men's heads shot up. The crunch of the snow coming closer could mean only one thing: Christine.
Both men glanced down to look at Erik's violin, which he held in his hand. Erik glanced at Daae, who turned his back. He was letting Erik choose.
After several tense moments, Erik walked to his case and put the violin away. He turned to see Daae sitting atop his grave one more. Turning to go, Erik was shocked to find Christine's father standing before him.
"Had the circumstances be different- I alive, you not making this terrible mistake of fooling her..." Daae put one ghostly hand on Erik's shoulder, "I would have been honored to have you join our family. Music has always meant more to us than appearances."
Erik stood in shock. Daae smiled sadly.
"Make the right choice, boy, and you won't lose her."
Giving Erik's shoulder a light squeeze, he walked back to his coffin, fading away until the tomb was cold and empty one more.
Erik stood in the dark, wanting to yell, but with Christine coming closer, it was too risky.
I would have been honored to have you join our family.
Christine was coming, he told himself.
would have been honored to have you join our family
He's dead-
honored to have you join our family
-and I have to listen to him.
Erik snapped out of it and left the tomb silently, catching a glimpse of Christine sitting on the steps, laying down a rose.
And Daae, on the other side of the door, smiling at his daughter.
Erik moved through the graves,feeling shaken, thinking over Daae's words.
Make the right choice, boy...let her choose.
Very well, Daae. As you wish. One must respect the requests of ghosts.
I'll let her choose. But if you're wrong, I'll come haunt you myself.
And with that, Erik left the graveyard.
What'd you guys think? Like I said, this is something I've always wanteded to see, so I tried to keep them in character as much as possible. Let me know if you think anything should change.
Also, exciting news! Not to Follow will be updated TOMORROW! After that, Mondays will be the NTF update day.
Remember to review! LOTS OF LOVE!
Cheers, Aria