France: 6

America: 1

Story based on poll's result. New poll if requested.

While Paris Opera House was well known for its charm and beauty, there was always a dark side hidden underneath those values.

It started out as a rumour, but every rumour was born or originated from a certain truth that was passed down by people. As it spread, however, the truth began to blur and faded into the background while the rumour passed on like wild fire.

It all began when strange things started happening in the opera house. Some chorus girls said they saw a shadow in their dressing room, some staff and crew will said some of the props went missing, some people said they would heard someone singing or playing the piano when there should be no one in the theatre. Slowly, the tale began to surface regarding the presence of that 'someone' who resided in the opera house, the opera ghost.

The identity of this ghost remained unknown to them. From how things looked like, it was possible that he was once a renowned artist that died in the opera house. The cause was not clear, some said he died on stage while some believed that he was murdered. But one thing people knew was that he had taken residence in Box 5 of the opera house. The managers needed to ask for his permission in order to use Box 5 and paid him regularly in hope it will appease him.

There were also different account regarding the ghost's appearance. Gilbert, who liked to scare the girls would told them that he caught sight of the ghost's appearance. His account of the ghost's appearance was that of a full human skeleton body with blood red eyes and blood flowing out of it. He also mentioned that the ghost can be seen wandering in Box 5 near midnight, his skeletal body burning in fire. Though Yao had tried drummed in Gilbert's ears, warning him not to say all these things in front of people, but that man was as daring as death he was.

Some of the staffs and crews had also reported seeing a green light floating in the corridors of the dressing room and dance foyer. They believed it was also the ghost's doing. Popular believed it to be 'the man with death head'. Coming into eye contact with it was not a good thing, they would say. As those who looked into the death's eyes will got shocked that they died, those who survived will be plagued with insanity and they believed that this had befallen on the retired manager.

Another popular belief was also mentioned that the opera ghost has shapeshifting ability because he was once an actor who can played any role without losing the skills. In night time, he will transform into bats, rats, spider or even wolf to spy and prey on people. They believed that he will lure young ladies into his lair where they will ended up being slaughtered and disembodied, so that the ghost could use their bodies to make a perfect body host for him.

Although the tale varies, one thing was certain regarding the ghost. If someone stands in his way or refuse to obey his orders, there's a painful price to pay. And those with too much of a curiosity will end up being killed in the ghost's hand. After all, corpse won't talk, probably the best way to keep everything about the ghost's identity intact.

Night time fell in the opera house, the audiences had left and everyone prepared to retire for the night. Alfred returned back to his office in a frustrated mood. He almost got Arthur into his hand. Yet, that new patron, Francis, had to stand in their way.

"Al, are you alright?" Matthew asked in concern.

"No, I'm not."

"Is it about Arthur?"

"Of course, that Francis guy is getting too close to him. He's too pervert to be close to Arthur."

Matthew let out a sigh. "Getting angry about it won't solve the problem." He said, sorting out the documents on the tables. "Rather than frustrating over this, why don't you give me a hand here?"

"Whatever." Alfred grunted and he walked next to his brother and began looking through the letters.

Yao soon entered the office, a letter in his hand. "I have a letter for you, monsieur." Matthew accepted the letter from him, thanking him in the process. He observed the seal for a moment. The hardened wax seemed to have the image of a dragon… No, is that a lion or a horse? On another glance, it looked like an eagle head.

"Who actually sent such letters?" Alfred said, squinting at the seal.

Yao bowed a bit before answering. "I forgot to inform you all during the rehearsal. Here in the opera house, we have another person who secretly managed the opera house."

"You're kidding me right?" Alfred spat. "Then what are we the managers if this somebody took charge on managing the opera house?"

"I'm serious, young man." Yao said, his tone was grave serious. "This person, or whom we had come to know as the opera ghost, won't take people lightly if they disobeyed his orders."

"Ghost? A-And his orders…" Matthew gasped. "Y-You don't mean…"

"He welcomes you two to the opera house." Yao continued. "He also stated that unless permission is provided, you are not allowed to use Box 5 for any purpose."

"What kind of person is this? Thinking he could keep things all to himself?!" He snatched the letter from Matthew's hand and scanned through the letter.

Dear managers,

Good evening, as your loyal servant, I humbly welcomed you to the opera house. As per agreement, Box 5 is reserved for my own usage unless instruction allowed you to do so.

It is also a great pleasure seeing the new singer singing for the night. His name is Arthur Kirkland, did I heard it right? He brings a new sensation to the show. I hope you will use him for future productions.

Kind regards,

Opera Ghost

"What kind of person is he? He seemed to tick me off." Alfred commented. While the letter was written in a polite manner, he can sensed something hidden behind those words, like a hidden knife waiting to attack.

"While he may not ask for anything, it is wise that you pay him some reasonable amount of money every month." Yao advised.

"We have to pay him?" Matthew asked in shock.

"Mister Braginski paid as much as five hundred francs every month. Surely you can afford something like that, won't you?" Yao said, whether it was a mocking or an advice, they just can't tell. "You have to seal the money in a letter and leave it at Box 5, he will retrieve it by himself."

"Who did he think he was? Our boss?" Alfred said in frustration. "This gotta be a joke. I have no time to play with his tricks."

Yao scowled at Alfred's words. "If I were you, I would've obeyed his words. His requests were not hard to fulfil, weren't they?" He turned and prepared to leave. But before he opened the door, he stopped again. "Don't say that I didn't warn you, but the ghost will be out causing trouble if you don't listened to his orders." He reminded them before he left.

"Aren't you going to listen to him?" Matthew asked.

"Why should I listen to him? There is no such things as ghost. This thing is definitely a trick!" Matthew sighed, looks like his brother just got angrier.

Alfred looked at the letter written by the so called ghost. He decided to just dismiss it as a prank when he noticed there was something he missed. At the end of the letter, was a passage written in red.

Alfred F. Jones,

While I understand that you had feelings for Arthur Kirkland, but please refrain from getting close to him. Having a relationship with him is strictly prohibited, you had no right to be close to him as he already belongs to me.

Opera Ghost

What the hell was that?! What relation does this 'ghost' has with his Arthur?! And who said obeying his order is an easy task?!

In the Bonnefoy's residence in Paris, Francis was about to retire to bed and called it a day. To be honest, he never expected that he will be meeting Arthur in the opera house. What surprised him even more was that Arthur was chosen as the new lead singer and his singing skills had captured his heart.

"Just like back then…" Francis mumbled to himself with a faint smile. "Music is just perfect for him."

His mind went back to the moment when he visited Arthur privately in his dressing room after the show. Arthur sang so well that he ended up fainting. It worried him a bit, it was Arthur's first time after all. The moment when he entered the room, Arthur got shock for a while before turning into that of a shy expression. He didn't intended to do anything stupid of course, since it was their first meeting after years. Arthur had grown from a young lad into a handsome and attractive young man and Francis found himself instantly attracted to him. During that brief meeting, the two of them talk about their past and about their current lives. Arthur stated that things had been quite busy in the opera house, but he somehow managed it. He advised Arthur on taking care of himself and not to overwork himself.

And then, the new manager of the opera house came into his mind, he frowned instantly. It looks like this young man, Alfred, was interested in his Arthur too. Francis wasn't taking this lightly, he was determined to win Arthur's hand. After all, he did said that he will marry him years ago, there's no way he would broke those words.

"Sir, there's a letter for you." A maid knocked on the door before opening it and handed him a letter. Francis accepted it and thanking the lady in the process. Who could've sent a letter this late? His eyes landed on the wax that had the image of a serpent, or is it an eagle's head? And the body was like that of a horse, but then again it looked like a lion.

Merde.

Morning rose in the opera house and the residents were prepared to start anew for the day. Arthur woke up from his bed, cleaned and dressed himself. He took note of the flowers that were placed all over the room, mentally reminding himself to clean them up later. He was about to leave the room for breakfast when a voice called out for him.

"Mornin' my dear, I hope you had a good rest." The voice said, his voice echoed throughout the room.

Arthur stopped in his tracks, turning around to answer the voice. "I'm perfectly fine. You don't have to worry about me."

"Do take good care of yourself." The voice said. "And I had a little advice for you too."

Arthur frowned, "What is it?" He had a bad feeling about it.

"It seemed like some people are interested in you. Two men to be exact, the patron and one of the managers." Arthur shuddered, the ghost must be talking about Francis and Alfred. "Don't get too close to them. Remember, you belong to me and only ME." And that came out to be a warning more than an advice…

Welcome back, do you enjoy the story? This chapter is a rather short one. I just don't know what else to write when a character has to remain hidden. But there's more to reveal, sooner or later in the story. Don't miss it out.

In this chapter, we had a brief introduction about the rumours and possible identity of the phantom. I still had no idea about who should be the phantom. Though Fuwapanda gave me a good suggestion and I was considering it. It would take a few more chapters before the phantom's true face will be unveiled. For now, the phantom will remain in the shadow causing havoc, and I will take my time thinking 'bout it until the unmasking moment.

So once again, which character do you want to be the phantom? Let me know in the comments below. And those who haven't vote, do vote the poll on my profile, should this story be a USUK or a FrUK fic?

At the end of the story, we had our spotlight focused on the man who wrote this story, Gaston Leroux. A Frenchman known for his adventures and carefree spirit. He loves literature but his father wanted him to be a lawyer. After his father's death, Leroux inherited the fortune and spent them all on gambling in less than a year.

He was not downhearted even at the brink of bankruptcy. He started working as a court reporter and drama critic, a combination of both his legal study and his fond of literature and theatre. His reports and papers uncovered several malpractice and corrupted officials, which made him a journalist and the greatest satisfaction in his life. During this time, he often travelled across Europe and Middle East, witnessing events first hand.

But when his health deteriorated, he retired back to France and started working as a novelist. His first few books were of gory and bloody genre. In 1911, the book Le Fantôme de l'Opéra (The Phantom of the Opera) was published, but responses to the book was rather disappointing. It wasn't until when the book was made into a film by Lon Chaney in 1925, only then the story gained its popularity. By that time, Leroux was in failing health and died on 15 April 1927 at age 59. He has written over 60 novels, but none made him rich. Among all of them, only two stories were recovered fully, The Mystery of the Yellow Room (1907) and The Phantom of the Opera (1911). The phantom has over-shadowed his creator and it was him that made the story lived on for decades to come.