Hey everyone! Look, even during my exams I can get a chapter out! That's either dedication or reluctance to study! I'm going to pretend that it's both...so, anyways, the action begins here, as you all know. So enjoy!

Disclaimer: I do not own the Phantom of the Opera or Beauty and the Beast! :)


The Beautiful Rose

~Chapter II: Visitor~

The storm had arrived faster than he expected. Gustave Daaé had made it to the next town, but believed he would be able to continue travelling to the next one before the storm hit. He was wrong. Now caught in the pouring rain, the harsh wind whipping at his face and clothes, Gustave found himself lost, unable to see enough in front of him to tell if he was going in the right direction. He had realized too soon that taking the forest path was the wrong choice, but now he had no other option but to follow through.

As he shivered from the cold he couldn't help thinking in the back of his mind how worried Christine must be for him. He needed to get to the next town so that he could send word to her that he was safe. He couldn't bear the idea of his daughter being concerned over him; she was too young to be worrying about problems other than her own. Then again, perhaps she's not a child anymore…almost a lady… he thought with a sigh.

A loud sneeze sounded from him as he wearily rubbed at his nose with his sleeve. There must be something out here… Gustave thought as he squinted his eyes to see around him. At first, he thought his eyes were deceiving him when he thought he saw a small distant light shining through the branches of the trees, but then he realized that he couldn't have been mistaken. The town must be there! I almost passed it!

Turning his horse in the direction of the light, he ushered it into a trot so as to reach the town faster. The wind continued to toss rain hard against his face, but Gustave ignored it as he got closer and closer to the light. Finally passing through the break in the trees he immediately pulled the horse to a stop. His bright eyes stared wide at what was before him. A tall dark mansion loomed in front of him, five times the size of any building he had ever seen.

Gustave stayed for a moment staring at the building, his mind debating whether or not he should knock on its door to ask for shelter. The mansion seemed ominous and promised no escape should one enter. Despite his better judgement, Gustave knew he couldn't stay in the rain much longer. The least he could do was ask for directions, and perhaps a moment to dry off.

Carefully leading Jammes to the mansions front doors, he dismounted. There was a small awning above one of the windows near the entrance. He tied the horse under it before going to the front doors and hesitantly knocking on them. He waited a moment before a frown reached his features. …Maybe they didn't hear me, he concluded. Knocking on the doors again, but louder, he waited. After a few minutes passed and no one answered the door, Gustave debated on what to do next. …I don't think the owners would mind if I just step in for a moment. If someone sees me I can explain why I'm here, he thought logically, though dread filled him at the idea.

Carefully taking the knob in his hand he opened the door. He didn't think the door would be unlocked so he was surprised when it opened so easily. Quietly he stepped in through the opening before closing the large door shut behind him. The mansion was dark, not a single light cast. The surface of any furniture that was in the main entrance had a thin layer of dust covering its surface, but not the floors, which indicated that there were inhabitants.

"…H-Hello?" Gustave called out quietly. His voice echoed slightly off of the walls, but not loud enough for anyone to hear but himself. Swallowing the lump in his throat, he tried speaking louder, "Hello?" He waited anxiously in the silence. When he thought no one had heard him once again the small sound of footsteps reached his ears accompanied by distant voices.

"Armand, I do believe you've finally gone mad," a quiet male voice commented.

"I am not mad! I heard something, I swear on my mother's grave!" another male voice replied frantically.

"It's probably Madam Giry."

"It was a man!"

"Then Bouquet."

"It's not someone I recognized!"

Gustave looked at the farthest door to the left where the voices came from anxiously. Every fiber of his body told him to turn around and leave the mansion before it was too late, but the idea of going back into the cold made him remain, frozen on the spot.

"Armand, it's been five years since anyone has visited this place, including the master's parents. There's no one in here but us."

"But if there is, Richard? It's worth hoping for…" The voices were getting closer and closer until two figures appeared in the open doorway. Gustave's eyes widened, his mouth opening up to cry out in fright but no sound coming out.

The two gentlemen that stood at the other end of the entrance both looked normal, at first. One was a few inches taller than the other with black short hair slicked back and a perfectly trimmed mustache sitting above thin lips. The other had short brown hair that was more untamed than the others, but still presentable, looking more charming and social able than the first. But the fact that the two were transparent as though they were ghosts was what sent shivers down Gustave's spine and filled him with the overwhelming need to run.

The ghosts seemed equally surprised to see him as they gave each other a shocked look.

"I told you I heard someone!" the short exclaimed.

"Who are you!" the taller yelled angrily as he stormed over to where Gustave stood. Too frightened to move, Gustave just stared flabbergasted at the ghost.

"I-I-" he stuttered, unable to get out a word.

"Well?"

"Richard, I think our appearance is scaring him," the shorted commented quietly as he walked up to the other. Richard grunted unhappily as his glaring eyes scanned Gustave up and down.

"Forgive him," the short said while putting a hand on Richard's shoulder as though to relieve him as he gave Gustave a smile. "I am Armand Moncharmin, and this is my friend Richard Firmin. What can we call you?"

"I-I'm-" Gustave cleared his throat. "I'm Gustave Daaé. I didn't mean to intrude, but the weather is terrible and I'm lost."

"Yes, I can only imagine how horrendous it was travelling through that storm," Armand commented with an understanding nod. "Where were you heading to?"

"Paris, but I was going to stop at a nearby town until the storm subsided," Gustave answered.

"Armand, a word," Richard said roughly while grabbing the shorter's arm and dragging him a small distance away.

"Richard, you're being more rude than usual," Armand said unhappily.

"Armand, he can't stay here," Richard whispered warningly.

"He's lost," the shorter reasoned.

"I don't care, and neither will the master," Richard hissed. Armand sighed heavily.

"We have to do something; he can't go back out there."

"Why not?"

"He's lost! The least we can do is point him in the right direction."

"We don't know the right direction! It's been five years since we've left this hell!"

"Richard," Armand whispered in a soothing voice, trying to calm the other down. "We have to help." Richard gave him a hard look.

"Armand, you know the consequences for disobeying the master," he said warningly. Armand gave a shiver at the thought, but he slowly nodded his head.

"I know…" without another word he turned and walked back to where Gustave stood. With a friendly smile he motioned for the man to follow him.

"We have a study that is filled with maps. We can find the nearest town on there," he informed. Gustave gave a sigh of relief before smiling.

"Thank you, that's most helpful."

Richard watched the two as Armand lead Gustave up the grand staircase towards the study. "…Idiot," he mumbled before walking towards the hall from which he came.

~oOo~

"Daroga, how many times must I remind you to not disturb me!" Erik snarled as he slammed his fingers down on the keys of his organ. The Persian just looked at the man from where he stood only a few feet away from, completely unphased by the harsh words.

"Too many to count," he replied casually.

"Your attitude, Daroga, is quickly getting on my nerves," Erik hissed as he turned to glare at the man, amber eyes shining from behind the full black mask he wore over his face. The Persian raised an eyebrow at him.

"My attitude?" he echoed. Erik growled but looked away guiltily. Ever since the enchantress cursed him he had never heard the end of it from the older man, constantly being reminded as to why they were in the situation they were. Erik found it hard to care about the servant's state when his was worse, but he did feel sorry for the Persian, being the only servant who seemed more like a friend than a slave.

"What do you want, Daroga?" he questioned, glaring at the floor.

"…The other servants wanted me to inquire if you were ever going to try and break this curse," the Persian replied cautiously.

"Well perhaps you should tell the servants to keep their mouths shut," Erik snapped.

"Erik, you turned twenty about a month ago. That means you only have eleven months left."

"Why should you care? You have a whole other year for the curse to break!"

"I care because you're going to drag the rest of us down with you if you can't break the curse before your next birthday!" Erik growled but stayed quiet. It was true, if he couldn't save himself from the curse he wouldn't save anyone else.

"The fact you're even discussing the possibility of me breaking the curse is idiotic," he replied before turning his back on the Persian. The older sighed.

"I know it's difficult to conceive the idea of going outside with your appearance and meeting someone but…are you really stubborn enough to rather looking like that for the rest of your life?" he asked.

"Like what, Daroga? Like a monster?" Erik snapped, standing to face the other, knocking his organ's bench over.

"I never said that. But I know that you hate your appearance more than anyone else who's seen it. So I'm curious as to why you're not the first one trying to fix it."

"Because I'm hideous, Daroga! No woman would ever look upon me with love, only fright!" The Persian sighed as the younger turned away again.

"…It's your decision…but don't be so heartless to bring the rest of us down further with you," he said quietly before turning and walking away.

Erik waited for the sound of the door shutting before sighing. He couldn't expect anyone in the castle to understand how hard it was to leave the castle. He had grown a fear of the outside world, thinking that mobs would chase him like a beast, or being put on display somewhere for all to see. No woman would ever bare to look at him, not even his mother could. Both of his parents fled the castle as fast as they could and had never returned after that day. Erik had become angry at the world for it and took it out on the servants.

With another sigh Erik began pacing his room. He didn't know how he could change his fate so he may have a happy ending, for all he saw was a monster for all eternity instead of being the handsome Vicomte he used to be. The Persian had been right about his attitude and how it will one day get him in trouble, only now did he wish that he had listened.

Knock. Knock.

Erik blinked confused for a moment. …Is that…the door? He wondered as he walked over to his window that led out onto the balcony. Just through the glass he could see a small figure at the mansion's entrance. The figure opened the door and entered into the mansion. Erik couldn't believe his eyes, seeing someone who wasn't from the mansion entering after five years. Sudden anger and fear reached him at all of the possibilities of who it could be: a detective, a policeman, a spy. With a growl he quickly went to the door of his room, ready to search the mansion for the intruder.

~oOo~

"This is amazing!" Gustave said in wonder as he looked around the study at all of the maps hanging on the walls as well as the one's spread out on the tables. Armand cast him a small smile as he looked through a pile of maps looking for one that would have directions to the nearest town on it.

"Richard and I used to buy them whenever we left town as a present to the master," he replied.

"Master?" Gustave echoed.

"Yes… Not a pleasant fellow, but I'm sure, somewhere, he has a good heart," Armand explained before pulling a single map out from the pile. "Here we are."

Gustave came to stand beside the man as he looked at the map. It was very detailed and showed a great portion of some of Frances cities to the north.

"We're here," Armand explained while pointing at a spot on the map. Tracing his finger to a small dot with a name above it, he said "This is the closest town."

"That's…east. Thank you so much! You have no idea how much you've helped me," Gustave said graciously. Armand smiled happily.

"It's my pleasure."

"This is such a relief… My daughter's expecting word from me and if I don't send it she'll be so worried." Armand's ears perked up when he heard this.

"Daughter?"

"Yes, her name's Christine. She a true angel, the light of my world. She hates it when I leave…so I can't disappoint her by not sending word," Gustave explained. Armand nodded his head. I better not meddle with this, his daughter sounds good hearted…unlike the master…It wouldn't be a good mix, he thought.

"Thank you for everything, really," Gustave thanked again.

"Anytime," Armand replied.

"Oh really?" another voice piped in. A harsh shudder ran down Armand's spine at the sound of the angelic voice, knowing immediately who was standing in the doorway. Gustave looked towards the door to see a young male leaning against the frame, looking at him in amusement through his black mask.

"I didn't know we were inviting visitors," Erik commented sarcastically.

"M-Master," Armand stuttered, daring to look at the younger.

"Master?" Gustave echoed confused.

"We shouldn't let our new friend here leave so soon. Why don't we show him the rest of the castle? I know a particular place that he will just love," Erik said with a dark smile.


A/N-Dun dun dun~! Bet NONE of you saw that coming! Huh? You did? Oh...well, I bet you didn't know Armand was that nice! Ha! Got you there! But what will happen next? You won't know until the next chapter! MUHAHAHA! No, seriously, I'll try and update soon so...reviews?