Christine promptly followed her angel through the mirror into the seemingly endless tunnel and was instantly swallowed up into the darkness. As a last thought, she turned back to the entrance and tried to pull the mirror closed to conceal them. It had been very difficult to open it, but it seemed closing it was going to be impossible. After a few tries she remembered their rush and so merely pulled the curtain back into place. Hopefully Meg would be able to distract them enough so they wouldn't notice the glass missing there. With this done she ran back in the direction they had been going, returning to her angel's side.

"You must be careful in here Christine, I haven't been this way in ages and it might not be as safe as it once was." Now that he had her at his side he was determined that nothing would take her away from him. His whole life he had been shunned and abused, but now God, the one he had at times prayed to and at times cursed, had seen fit to give him this one blessing.

Silently smiling at the concern in his voice, she shyly stepped closer to him and slipped her hand into his. He jumped at the contact of their hands, but soon squeezed her hand slightly and brought it to his lips to place a quick kiss on it. With her hand gripped in his and his heart pounding in his ears, he began the ascension from the depths of his beloved opera house. A hint of sadness broke through his growing happiness as he realized that this would never again be his home. Pushing this thought from his head he lead his beloved muse carefully through the darkness, judging each step in the unlit corridor.

Thus far the tunnel had seemed perfectly safe, at least to Christine's untrained eyes it did. She was unaware of the many traps they had avoided; he had avoided them so well in fact, that she wasn't even aware of them. When they reached the catacombs, long since forgotten by the rest of the world, Christine paused to take a look around; her eyes have adjusted to the darkness and this room being slightly lighter than the rest of the tunnel. She shuddered at the eeriness and sadness they presented. Everywhere, the walls were lined with the decayed bodies of people. They were obviously much revered at one time for they were adorned with exotic and ancient treasures, but these people had long since been abandoned and forgotten.

"Angel, who are these people?"

"I don't know my dear; they were here long before I came to be. When I was younger I used to come here to visit them regularly. I would imagine they were kings of ancient days who had chosen me to protect their remains, but as I grew older I found it more and more depressing 'till I stopped visiting them altogether."

"Oh. It seems so sad that they should be remembered by no one."

"Don't worry love; they are far from caring whether or not they are remembered."

With a sight Christine replied, "I suppose you are right. Are we almost there Angel?"

"Yes, we will be there soon and then we can stop and rest a bit…I really wish you wouldn't call me Angel though. Someone like me could never deserve a name like that. Call me anything but that!"

"No matter what I call you, you will always be my angel, for that is exactly what you have been. But if you don't like the name then what shall I call you? What is your real name my love?"

"I don't know what my real name is, but when I was found they began calling me Erik Destler."

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to pry. Do you mind if I call you Erik? I think the name suits you well, and whoever picked it couldn't have known how well it would suit you."

"You may call me that if you wish; I always rather liked the name myself. But whoever gave it to me couldn't care less if it suited me or not, because as soon as I was old enough to get rid of they sold me to the freak show when they passed through the town they lived in."

Christine couldn't help notice the sadness and anger that filled his eyes as he told her how he got his name. As he turned to continue on, her hand still in his, she didn't budge. When he turned back around to see what was wrong she threw herself into his arms. "I'm sorry Erik, sorry that you went through all of that and more than you have told me I'm sure, and then I betrayed you as well. How can you ever forgive me for reopening all of your unhealed wounds? I do love you, and maybe someday I can make it up to you."

Erik didn't speak immediately, but Christine didn't push him, she just stood there with here arms wrapped around his waist. His arms slowly, gently encompassed her as he leaned down to kiss her forehead. "My past will always haunt me Christine, but any pain you might have caused me was erased the moment you came back to me. I love you more than you could know."

With another quick peck on her forehead he released her and gathered her hand back into his. "We must continue on now, they might have found the tunnel and if they find us it would be very dangerous. We will talk more later, I promise."

With a nod, Christine began to follow him through the catacomb as it turned back into a tunnel, though much lighter than the other one had been. This must be where the light was coming from and they must be very close to the end of it.

Again Christine didn't notice the traps Erik led them safely through, but she was very valiant for keeping calm at the rats she began to notice. It was too dark to see them before, but now with the light she could see that they were everywhere. But she also knew that screaming of fainting would do no good in this case, if it ever did any good in any case. Screaming would alert the mob to their presence it they were still there, and fainting would only make Erik's burden greater. So she bravely continued forward, desperately fighting to keep her calm regardless of the rats. Erik noticed her reaction and gave her a reassuring grin.

"We are almost past them, I promise. Do you think you can tolerate them that long? If not I can carry you."

Taking another deep breath to calm herself before she replied, "I…I think I'll be okay. Than you though."

"Anytime, my love."

When they were finally through the rodent infested channel they both breathed easier, though for very different reasons. Christine couldn't think beyond being away from the rats, while Erik knew they were finally beyond the mobs reach even if they had followed them. As they both emerged from the tunnel into fresh air and what remained of the moonlight they looked at each other with a huge smile. They knew there were many more obstacles to overcome, even more to deal with that night. But they had overcome so many hindrances already that they could think only of the good to come.