Author's note: Hey, just a little warning, I might edited earlier chapters occasionally to make them better. The story and how events have unfolded will not change. I am simply fixing some grammatical errors and might decide to try and word things better.


The dark winged man seethed in pain as he tried to get past the barrier. Anger coursed through his veins.

"Do not think for a moment, my friend, that I will sit back and do nothing!"

He clenched his teeth as he thought back of when the angel left with Miss Daae and sealed him in this bubble for his own "protection".

He hit the wall again with a much stronger force as he thought of his friend's betrayal.

"Damn it!"

His anger ebbed as he saw a crack appear in the barrier.

A fiendish grin spread across his features.

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Carlotta smiled as she watched her lover sing his solo. Although Piangi wasn't exactly skinny or muscular, she still thought he looked rather dashing in his armor.

She frowned as she heard the other dithering chorus girls whisper and giggle about the handsome yet reclusive Erik Destler and, as a new addition to their already mindless babble, the boyish Vicomte.

Carlotta, being the domineering person that she is, made them silent with just a glare. Natasha might be the Queen here, but Carlotta can still be a very terrifying human to deal with.

Unfortunately, the moment the choir became quiet was also the moment that the ballet corps decided to let out loud shrieks.

The red haired woman glanced over to where the gaggle of ballerinas stood. Meg Giry was standing in the middle of the group, weaving a tale of horror that involved...carrots? Well, whatever.

Meg Giry, isn't she the one who lives with Christine?

As Carlotta's mind drifted to the quiet maid, she recalled the event in which they became friends. Before that, she never really paid that much attention to the mouse. It was startlingly to see how the loss of one's memories can really change someone's personality.

Before the whole sandbag incident, Christine Daae was a ghost that drifted about the theater. Always looking like a kicked puppy. She frequently cried about her father and something about an angel. The brunette was rather pathetic in Carlotta's opinion. People either pitied her, or ignored her like she did herself. Nobody actually wanted to be her friend. Too much emotional baggage.

The event about a week and a half ago changed her mind however. She never actually thought the girl would ever talk back to Ice Queen. Even Carlotta would never do such a thing, not to her face anyway. Carlotta would have gotten kicked out of the chorus faster than she could finish the remark if she did so. Piangi would not be able to do anything about it. Having the managers tied around her finger and Erik as her lover, Natasha could do anything she wanted. And it doesn't help that Destler himself already wanted Carlotta out of the chorus.

Which was why she decided to make Christine her friend the moment she saw her stand up against Natasha. Finally, she has another supporter besides Piangi! Yes, one day this opera house will be hers. Until then, she will need to keep collecting more people to her cause...

Her thoughts were suddenly interrupted when another round of shrieks came from the ballerinas. She frowned.

God, she could understand why Christine had hated her. Although Christine had been strangely quiet about Meg after the sandbag accident, she could tell that those two really had an animosity towards each other. She had overhead them bicker before.

Carlotta happened to walk by one day as Meg and Daae argued with each other. The ballerina had been accusing Christine of being a manipulative bitch or something of the like. The mouse? Being manipulative? Hah, that is as much of joke as Carlotta being in in love with Natasha.

Giry was probably just jealous that Christine has so much of her mother's attention. Daae herself pointed that out and told the ballerina to get over it. Meg turned red and looked like she wanted to kill her, but she simply walked away.

Well then, since Daae is her supporter now, maybe Carlotta should help her with Meg. The ballet rat was starting to piss her off as well.

A plan started to formulate in the red haired woman's mind...

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Daae groaned as her efforts to destroy a pesky stain on the ground proved unfruitful. She closed her eyes and sighed.

This was just fantastic. Now she was even failing to clean a stain. The brunette felt a headache coming on as she thought of all of the changes that have occurred. There are many issues she needed to deal with.

She thought back to the more recent alterations. Being Carlotta's friend was actually not as bad as she thought. Yes, the woman from Spain did complain to her a lot, but she had a lot of information.

Carlotta was also one of the only humans who talked to her besides Madame Giry. Daae frowned. It seems like whoever Christine was before, she was most definitely not popular. That made the brunette appreciate Guidicelli all the more.

As she switched from thoughts of her newest friend to the event that led up to it, she sighed.

She was still very confused about Erik. The maid wasn't sure if she should do something. After everything that has happened in her past, she felt that the man deserved a break. If that break means having many lovers and being cold to people, then perhaps she should let it be. She felt her heart clench as she thought of the final moments she spent with her tutor.

No, no. Do not think about it.

The woman took a deep breath. Yes, she will not do anything. In fact, perhaps she should just avoid him. Unfortunately, her cleaning area is the stage and auditorium. Areas that Erik frequently visits.

Hmmm...Well, she could make herself unseen if he comes by. She was a maid after all, it wasn't like anyone would notice if she disappeared for a bit.

As Daae thought more about it, she realized that maybe she didn't have as many problems as she thought. All she needed to do was not do anything. She will not interfere with either Raoul's or Erik's lives. That should be fairly simple. Having Carlotta as a friend wasn't an issue. The only true problem she had was Meg.

She needed to fix her relationship with her. From what she has seen of Meg's reactions towards her, the brunette concluded that Meg mostly thought of Christine as a self-centered brat who somehow managed to obtain the majority of Madame Giry's attention. That should not be too hard to fix.

The maid could try and repair the relationship between Madame Giry and her daughter. If they spent more time together, maybe the ballerina would not be so resentful towards her.

Daae herself could find ways to spend more time with her as well. If she showed Meg that she wasn't a selfish person, maybe their relationship would also get better.

The brunette smiled as a plan formulated in her mind...

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Meg woke up with a sneeze.

Gah, I feel horrible! I hope I am not getting sick...

She groggily got up from her shabby bed and gazed out the window. It was getting late in the morning.

The ballerina looked around for her shoes. Although her room was very small she still had a hard time finding her slippers. Meg was not an organized person.

As her eyes swept across the cracked floor of her room, she noticed her hand mirror lying on the ground. She picked it up and placed it on the box next to her bed that also served as a table.

She looked under her bed and found her shoes. The ballerina quickly put them on and went to her closet to change her clothes. As she neared her closet she looked at the wallpaper that covered her room and grimaced. Parts of the grey paper were coming off.

She sighed as she reached into her closet and changed her clothes. She took her ballerina gear with her. As she stepped into the hallway she looked across and saw Christine's door opened. She could see the insides of her nice big room. Envy clutched at her heart as she recalled how she once slept there.

"Mother, could you please explain to me why I have to move into the storage room?" a fifteen year-old Meg questioned. Her mother gave her a cold glare.

"I have already told you why! Christine is weak and she needs a better room to sleep in." Madame Giry replied.

"But the storage room is cold and dirty. I do not want to sleep in there. I want my room back!"

"Meg Giry! I never recalled raising such a selfish child! The storage room has been cleaned and is suitable for sleeping in. You are a strong child, and Christine is still in a lot of pain."

At the mention of the accident Meg became still. A storm of emotions swirled in her heart.

"Mother, about that accident, Christine she-" Meg started.

"No, I do not want to hear your self indulgent lies." Madame Giry interrupted and looked at the clock. "Come now daughter, we have to get to the opera house at five." the ballet instructor walked away.

Little Meg stared after her with the words of the truth caught in her throat. She looked down and then obediently followed after her mother.

Meg shook her head as if to free herself from the memories. No use in thinking about the past now. She quickly headed out and walked to the Opera Populaire.

Her head still felt a little fuzzy as she headed out of the dressing rooms. Several of the ballerinas and stagehands greeted her as she passed.

"Hello Meg! It is a pleasure to see you."

"Greetings Meg, let us go to that restaurant after practice today!"

Meg smiled warmly and greeted each one with enthusiasm. She loved to talked and she was generally a people pleaser. Telling stories was one her favorite hobbies. If being a ballerina did not work out in the future, she might consider a career as a Gothic novelist.

As practice commenced, Meg made more mistakes more than usual. Madame Giry was not pleased and the constant pounding of her cane could be heard throughout the opera house. When break finally came, the blonde ballerina was ready to pass out.

She was lying down on a bench when a knock came at the door.

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Daae decided that, to knock out two birds with one stone, she would get all three of them to spend time together. Meg would be less likely to be hostile to her if her mother was also there. As the ballet corps took a break, the maid floated by and found the room that Meg was resting in.

In Daae's original time, her Meg had a fondness for carnivals. She loved the strangeness of it all. If she hadn't married the Baron, she might have become a Gothic novelist. As a result, the brunette was currently keeping three tickets to a nearby carnival in her pocket.

I know she will love it!

She already gave one to Madame Giry. The old woman simply smiled and told her of how when she was her age she also went to a traveling circus. She had a fun time and nothing terrible happened. Although, there was a mean Gypsy man that bothered her.

Daae froze as she recounted a similar story that her dear friend told her.

My mother met Erik when she was a young girl. They met at a traveling circus. It says in her diary that Erik was there as an attraction. He was the Devil's Child and a Gypsy man had been abusing him.

Daae shuddered. She did not really think all that much when she bought the tickets. Though, this was a more established carnival. They wouldn't hold people there against their wills.

After she knocked and waited for about five minutes, she decided to just go in. She opened the door and saw Meg lying on a bench, glaring at her.

"What the hell do you want?" Meg spoke with evident dislike in her voice.

Although Daae had been planning this, the coldness in Giry's eyes made her uneasy. She decided to talk about a different subject first.

"Um, hello. I saw you practicing earlier and-"

"Did you come here to mock me?"

Daae frowned. Why did this ballerina keep thinking the worst of her?

"No! Of course not! I just wanted to tell you that I thought Madame Giry's comments were too harsh."

"Shut up, Christine. I know you are here for something!" Meg tried to stand up, but her legs gave out under her and she fell to the floor. Daae's eyes widened and she hurried over to her.

"Meg!"

The ballerina groaned and her eyes were shut tight. The brunette put her hand on the blonde's forehead.

She was burning up.

The maid gasped and quickly ran out the room. After several minutes, she came back with a bundle of ice wrapped in a rag and a cold cup of water. The young woman quickly placed the rag on the ballerina's head. Meg's eyes fluttered opened just as Daae tried to give her the glass of water. She suddenly pushed the glass away with a strong force, causing the cup to fly out of the maid's hands and onto the ground. Meg yelped in pain as she felt the glass shards dig against her thin tights.

The brunette looked in fear.

"I'm sorry! Let me go-"

"Stop it with the nice act!" Meg growled at Daae with an unbridled amount of fury and suspicion. Daae furrowed her eyebrows.

"Meg! You're injured! I know you have always hated me, but please let me help you!" she desperately pleaded.

The injured woman hesitated. Confusion swirled in her mind as she thought about how differently Christine was acting towards her.

"...I have not always hated you, Christine. I once thought you were the sweetest person around. But you proved me wrong a long time ago...What are you plotting Christine? Why would you want to help me?"

Without thinking, Daae immediately replied.

"I am not trying to use you. I only want you to be happy, Meg. Because you have always been my dearest fri-"

The door slammed open, abruptly cutting off Daae's sentence.

"Meg Giry! Practice started ten minutes ago an-" Madame Giry paused as she absorbed the scene in front of her. There were glass shards everywhere and Christine looked like she was about to cry as her daughter gazed at the brunette in contempt. Did Meg try to hurt Christine?

"Christine! Are you alright!?" Madame Giry asked in a panic.

The maid looked at the ballet instructor in befuddlement.

What? I am fine! Did she just not see Meg?

"I am fine, Madame. It should be Meg that you should be worried about. Meg is injured and has a strong fever."

For the first time since she entered the room, she saw that some of the shards had cut into the ballerina's legs. The cuts did not appear to be severe, but needed treatment quickly.

The ballet instructor walked over to her daughter and dragged her away from the glass while she berated her.

"You clumsy girl! You are a dancer. You should be more careful about your legs!"

Daae followed them out as Madame Giry headed to her office to get a medical kit.

This Madame Giry tends to yell at her daughter a lot more...

"Madame, please stop berating her. I am the one res-"

The ballet instructor interrupted her again as she set Meg down on a chair.

"Oh, I am so sorry Christine. You could have gotten hurt too! Are you sure you are alright?"

"I am fine, bu-"

Madame Giry pulled the kit out and brought out a bottle to clean the wounds.

"I am going to apply this to her wounds. It might sting a bit. Christine, dear, could you hold Meg's hand?"

Daae nodded and held her hand. The ballerina looked like she was fighting back her tears. The brunette felt a stab at her heart.

Madame Giry used an alcohol swab to clean her cuts and then bandaged them. She sighed.

"The cuts are not too deep and you should be able to keep dancing, but you should stop for at least two weeks." Meg's eyes widened.

"What? No I can't! The-"

"You should have thought about that before you decided not to take care of yourself!" Madame Giry moved Meg back out of her office. She turned to Daae.

"Madame, you should not-" the maid once again spoke and was silenced by the queen of interruptions.

"Christine, my apologies for bothering you like this, but could you go take Meg back home? I would go, but I have a class that I must teach. If I leave them alone for too long, they will stop practicing."

Daae sighed and agreed. The brunette offered her hand to Meg and the ballerina hesitantly accepted it. The ballet instructor turned and walked away.

When they got back to their home, the maid helped lay the ballerina down on the bed. She looked around the cold and musty room.

It was no wonder she got sick.

The room was very shabby. Daae wondered why Meg was sleeping here. Her own room had plenty of space and was a lot nicer. She would have to ask Madame Giry about that later.

"Do you want anything else? I can bring give you some of the blankets from my room." Daae looked down at Meg. She looked away.

"No, Christine. I dislike it when people give me charity. You have done enough for today. I just want to be left alone."

A lump formed in the maid's throat and she stood very still. Only when the ballerina drifted to sleep did she walk away.

The tickets continued to burn in her pocket.


Daae never felt more alone in her entire existence. As she continued to sweep the floors, she felt a hollowness in her heart spread. All the relationships that had supported her in her previous life never existed here. Although she now has a friend in Carlotta, she knew that it wasn't enough. Carlotta could never fill up the gaping hole in her chest that was created from the loss of her loved ones.

She missed Meg's excited chatter as she weaved dark, yet romantic tales out of her mind. She felt a horrible pang when she thought of the way Raoul used to call her Little Lotte and told her how he would always be her knight.

And, although many terrible things had happened between them, she still missed how Erik used to play music for her into the night.

Now, I am truly alone and there is nothing I can do about it.

Meg hated her and she had no business being a part of Raoul's or Erik's life. She was simply a maid who will probably work at the same dead end job for the rest of her life.

Horror gripped at her heart as she thought of the numerous years ahead of her living in this bleak and empty existence.

Daae could feel herself go into the darkness again. The abyss of depression threatened to consume her. It was like the time when her father died or that period after Raoul's death.

No. No! I can't fall in to that state again. Whenever I do, people start to take advantage of me and everyone gets hurt!

Thinking of the only thing left she had control over, she abandoned her broom and vanished from the stage.

She fled in to one of the more hidden practice rooms of the Opera Populaire. The maid stepped into the small room and shut the door behind her. There were several lanterns and a small mirror that hung from the wall. A worn out piano stood in the corner of the room. She felt a little bit of the darkness lift from her.

Yes, at least she had music. It was one of the few things she still had control over.

After her father's death, Erik used music to give her life again. After she lost Raoul, her musical skills were the ones that kept her sane while she wore her Viscountesse mask.

She sat at the up-right piano and started to play a melody that she sang for her children once.

O fare you well, I must be gone
And leave you for a while:
But wherever I go, I will return,
If I go ten thousand mile, my dear,
If I go ten thousand mile.

Ten thousand miles it is so far
To leave me here alone,
Whilst I may lie, lament and cry,
And you will not hear my moan, my dear,
And you will not hear my moan.

The crow that is so black, my dear,
Shall change his colour white;
And if ever I prove false to thee,
The day shall turn to night, my dear,
The day shall turn to night...

She winced as she stopped halfway through the song. Her voice sounded off. While Visountesse did practice her voice a lot even in her late age, evidently this Christine never sang a note after her father's death. Her range was a lot smaller and the sound was more muddled. She still sang very well for a woman who did not sing for eight years, but to a professional it might as well be garbage.

Damn it! I don't even have control over music anymore...

The darkness came back stronger this time. Daae could feel herself almost choke in it. As the waves of despair washed over her, a sudden hissing sound could be heard.

She frowned and glanced around the room.

Crack!

She jumped at the thunderous noise. The lights in the room flickered out. The brunette tensed and frantically tried to get the door open. It was locked.

Oh God!

"Do not panic, Miss Daae. You are in no danger."

She heard the voice echo around the room and frowned. That voice sounded like the stranger she made the deal with...

"Where are you?" she asked in a confident voice, yet felt quite the opposite.

"Look at your mirror. I am there inside."

She turned and looked at the small mirror that hung on the wall. A man with dark wings reflected back.

"God! Could you be any more unoriginal!?" Daae exclaimed.

The man cocked an eyebrow.

"What do you mean?"

She sighed.

"Simply experiencing some deja vu. As long as you do not start to angrily sing at me, we are fine."

"Miss Daae, I do not underst-"

"It is nothing!"

The man gave her an odd look and continued.

"Hello Miss Daae, I know it has been some time that we have talked."

"You would be correct in that assumption, monsieur." the brunette shifted uncomfortably. "Um, is there anyway that we could talk other than through this mirror? This is reminding me too much of...my music tutor."

The man furrowed his eyebrows.

"Really? How? I know Erik was a strange man, but..."

The former singer gaped at him in shock.

"You know about Erik?"

The man cleared his throat.

"Well, yes, But that is neither here nor there. Anyway, my apologies Miss Daae. This is unfortunately the only way I can talk to you for now. An old friend of mine had seen to that."

"Who is your-"

"It is a long story that I do not wish to discuss. Now, let us go to the main question, Miss Daae." he gave a gentle smile. "You have been here for about two weeks now. How has it been?"

"Everything is a mess."

"Already? How did that happen?"

Daae raised an eyebrow.

"Everyone I once cared about either does not exist, despises me, or is oblivious to my existence."

The man nodded and then looked down as if he was reading something.

"Well, from the information here, Madame Giry does not hate you."

The brunette sighed.

"I do care for Madame Giry, but she is not important to me as Meg, Raoul, or Erik was. Yes, she took me in when my father died, but she was always distant. She only spoke to me when talking about my "angel" or ballet. Looking back now, that may have been because of Erik."

"Fair enough. What have you done so far then?"

"I've been trying to rekindle my relationship with Meg, but that has been failing. Raoul has not notice me and I have decided to avoid Erik."

The man paused for a moment.

"Have you done anything with young Raoul?"

The woman shook her head and sighed.

"I do not really have any business being in his life either. I want him to live a different life this time. I love him, I truly do. But, I think he should live a life where he does not have to shoulder my burdens."

The man nodded. "Yes, that sounds quite reasonable. However, what of Erik? Why do you feel a need to avoid him as well?"

She clenched her hands.

"...Because I killed him. I really did care for him and there have been times that I wished I could be with him, but living in the darkness for the rest of my life would have killed me. We were both unstable. He was insane and I was a grown woman with a mind of a child. Our relationship would not have worked."

An expression Daae could not identify flickered across the man's face.

"But what about now?" he asked softly. "You are no longer a child in a woman's body and Erik is more mentally stable. Why do you wish to avoid him?"

"He is content now, I believe. He is dating a beautiful soprano and is loved by society. I do not have much of a reason to interfere with that."

"Miss Daae, you were a Visountesse who overcame the jeers of high society and became somebody that no one could look down to. I know I made comments about how nobody called you by your name anymore, but that was because you perfected the mask. Most people in Parisian society would call that a success. Were you happy?"

Daae stiffened. "I loved my children very much and it was a joy to see-"

"I did not ask you if you loved your children, Miss Daae. I know they came about because of your choice, but could you tell me you were truly happy? In the end, only one of your children cared about you. Charles was the only one to visit you on a daily basis. Charlotte never once came back from America and Phillip was too busy being a clone of his namesake to visit you. In order to survive Parisian society, you ended up living the rest of your life in a shell. You could speak politely, act like an elite, never showing sadness or pain unless it is useful, but you could never be happy."

Red flashed before her eyes. "You have no righ-"

The man continued on without a pause.

"But, you are no longer living in a mask, Miss Daae. Before, you would have simply ignored your pain and sadness. Yet, here you are, admitting to them. The Viscountesse would have always think before she talked, but earlier you were going to admit to Miss Giry that you consider her as a best friend, even though she most likely would have yelled at you and thought that you were crazy. Things have changed, Miss Daee. Now tell me, were you truly happy?"

The brunette broke down and sighed.

"No, I was not."

"Then, why did you automatically assumed that Erik was?"

'I suppose I should not have. Fine, I will check if he is truly content, but that does not automatically mean I plan on entering his life. If he is unhappy, I can see what I can do without getting directly involved with him."

"A fine idea. Yet, why do I still sense negative emotions within you?" the man asked in a kind voice.

"I do not know what to do, monsieur. I fear that I will continue in this bleak existence for the rest of my time here."

"What of your music?" he questioned.

"I am a very terrible singer now. My talent on the piano is only average."

"But you were once good. You can be again. Now that you have a second chance, don't you want to fulfill your ultimate dream? To sing on the stage again?"

"Again, you sound far too much like Erik."

The man did not seem perplexed by the comment.

"I understand that originally you did not do so when you had the chance because of Erik's methods. Now, you are the one in control. How your career will go will be of your own desire, not his. So, why not give it a chance this time? As you have said before, your life would be very bleak otherwise."

As Daae continue to listen to the man, the more she became interested in the idea. Yes! She could recover her skills again. She still had all of her memories of the lessons with Erik. She wouldn't need to find a way to scrounge up the money for a tutor. This was perfect! Then she thought of something else.

"Actually, you are correct. Why shouldn't I try to have a professional singing career this time? I don't have anything better to do. But, I think maybe I should audition at another opera house then."

The man jerked. "What?!"

"Natasha has a lot of power over Opera Populaire, and after her attempt to fire me, I do not think she would be very amiable. Also, everyone here knows me as the maid. They wouldn't give me a chance of day. Even when I was a ballerina the managers were reluctant to give me an audition."

The man hesitated for a moment as the gears of his mind worked overtime. Miss Daae had very sound reasons.

"Right now your voice is not good enough, so auditioning at another place would be a terrible idea. Perhaps you should give it about three to four years and scrounge up enough money to live by yourself."

The young woman narrowed her eyes.

"I was not planning to leave anytime soon, monsieur. I know I don't have the skills or the money to support myself right now. But, why did it seem like you were very nervous about my moving?"

"Be-because I-"

Daae gave the man an earth shattering stare. He swallowed and sighed.

"I may have had certain hidden motives when I offered you the chance."

The woman froze.

"Please don't tell me that you are actually the devil."

His dark eyes burned with fury.

"No! I am not a demon! Stop asking me that!"

"Well then, what are these hidden motives? Why have you brought me here?"

"...I had no choice. There is a human here that I care for very much, but their soul was damned the moment it was created. I had hoped that by altering the events, changing the circumstances, and twisting some of the relationships, maybe this human might have a fighting chance this time."

The brunette frowned.

"Who is this person?"

"It is someone you do not know very well, but have an important impact on."

"...And this person needs me to be here?"

"Yes."

Daae sighed.

"You're not going to tell me who he or she is, are you?"

"No."

"Fine, I will let you off today. But I do plan on leaving this place in two years."

He took a deep breath.

"Very well. Hopefully that will be enough."


...and that's it! Oh, if you hadn't noticed yet, I incorporated some aspects of LND Madame Giry into this one. The LND one was willing to sacrifice her daughter for Erik. In this one, she is doing it for Christine. That song Christine sang is an old folk song. Please review!