For the next couple of weeks Erik agreed to let Achille stay with him in his home, but reminded him it was only out of the fact that Achille had taken him in his time of need and gave him a family. That he remained grateful for the days that Achille had let him stay with the Cirque, however this was the one and only time he would be repaying him for his deed and that after he found a place to stay he wished nothing more to do with him.
Achille agreed but still made several apologies to Erik for what he had done. Admitting how right Erik was and how guilty he had made him feel. "You'll have to sleep in the living room. I'll see what I can do about getting you a bed, but for now you'll have to make due with the couch. I'll fetch you some blankets." Erik told him starting to go off into the other room, when Achille stopped him in an immediate outburst, "Erik, there is another room over here, what are you using it for?" He questioned beginning to open the door but then realized it was locked.
Erik hesitated, what was he to say? He took a brief moment to debate on whether to unlock the door or not. That room, once belonged to…her. He had not even gone near that door since she left, and he didn't want to now. Seeing the sight of a room he spent so much of his time working on…a room he made for her. A room in which she slept. No. He couldn't let someone else stay in there. It wasn't built for Achille, it was built for Christine!
"Achille, that room is private." Erik finally responded hoping that this would end the debate, but alas, he knew it would not. "Private or not Erik, I never hid a warm bed at the Cirque from you." He replied. "Do not try to guilt trip me, Achille. That room was not meant for you, and you shall not have it. You are lucky I am even letting you stay here, as soon as you find a place to go I want you out." Erik said harshly, throwing the blankets he had promised him on the couch.
A moment of awkward silence passed, "I am sorry my friend. My greed has once again overwhelmed me. I can see now, that this must have been the room of your famous Christine the persian tells me of. No doubt you would not want anyone else sleeping in what was her bed. As you have said, I am lucky you are letting me stay here. I'll sleep on the couch." Achille agreed, laying down beneath the blankets.
Erik thanked him for that matter, informing him that it would just be much too painful to even go near the room now that his Christine had left him. They bid they're good nights and headed and Erik headed to his room. That night, Achille dreamt of the recent past. He relived everything that had happened that night, in vivid detail. Better than he remember while being awake. His guilt seeped through the cracks of his hearts and found it's way into his nightmares. He watched from his hiding place as all of his children and his beloved cirque were burned alive. Then he remembered something…something that had skipped his mind whilst telling Erik the sad story of the tragic events that had occurred. Amber,…the littlest member of the cirque. Adrian's little sister. He saw it all too clearly now. She had escaped. He remembered seeing her, she ran out of the woods franticly sobbing like the little girl that she was.
Oh, how he had once adored that child. She was so beautiful and innocent, and now, she was alive. Yes. He was most certain of it. But for how long? How long until she was discovered. How long until she would suffer the same fate of her parents, and her brother. Adrian…yes Adrian the small boy who had once been kidnapped and rescued by non other than the man now known famously as the phantom of the opera. He had not lived to see his coming into adult hood. Burned alive in the fire. A sight Achille wished he would never have to see again, and yet he did. He saw it, vividly, and all its detail.
What would happen of the girl now? Where was she? Dead, or alive? The nightmare only grew worse once Achille began to consider the possibilities of all of the horrible things that could have happen to her. He could hear her, her soft innocent little voice screaming out into the night as she was murdered by the evil men that had taken away her parents,, the evil men that had once thought themselves righteous when they were nothing more than foul demons bestowed upon the earth.
He snapped out of the nightmare due to Erik shaking him violently, "Wake up Achille! Stop screaming!" He commanded. "What?" Achille shouted startled, jumping to his feet, "Wha…what time is it?" "You've only been asleep no more than an hour, Achille, and you are already screaming loud enough to wake all of Paris! What on earth were you dreaming about?"
"The girl, Erik! The girl!" Achille responded shaking Erik frantically, "She's alive!" "What girl!" Erik wanted to know, regaining his balance. "The Lune girl, Amber! She escaped! I saw her escaping! She lived!"
Erik came to a short standstill, "The girl…right I remember now, she was only a toddler the last time I saw her. Adele gave birth to her the first time we returned to Paris since my joining. The second time was when I left." "Yes Erik! Amber! She's older now, not much older than around ten. I saw her escaping. She's is alive, somewhere. I might have failed the rest of my children, but perhaps I can still save one of them."
"So the truth has come to you in a dream." Erik stated, unemotionally. "Yes, Erik. How did you know?" Achille wondered. "If you would have been aware before you slept, you would have mentioned before that the girl was alive, rather than now. You have relived the past in a dream, it seems." He replied, sounding completely sure of himself. "Yes Erik, you are correct. I have to find the girl, I have to save what is left of my cirque. It is my duty as a father." Achille said proudly, putting on his coat.
"How do you know Achille?" Erik questioned before he went running off, "How can you be sure it was not just a dream? Perhaps, she was murdered as well as the others and your guilt is disguising itself as hope. How can you be sure?"
"It was not a dream Erik, I awoke with the memory of seeing her there." Achille said coldly. Erik noticed the change of tone, his previous words must have really gotten to him. Achille seemed different, it was almost if he knew what he had done and knew the coward he was, but if he saved the girl that it would make up for it all. "You know, if you save this girl, that does not make what you did go away." Erik told him, in a nicer tone. "I know Erik, it's just, I have to do what is right. If that little girl is found, by the same people who killed her parents, she might be killed too. I can't let that happen. I have to find her." Achille confessed, "I wonder where she is now?" He took all of the possibilities in, where could a little girl such as Amber be hiding out at in a place she had only been to as a toddler. It baffled him, but he would take it all one step at a time. First things first he would go the police.
Authors Note: I intended for this chapter to be longer but I have been busy lately and I know it would take me a while to finish so I wanted to leave you guys with at least something more in the meantime. So as I've said it might be a few days before the next chapter. So, do you think Achille will succeed in finding Amber? When will she meet Erik? Who were those people that took her away? Yes, many questions are in need of answering, but they will be answered in time! Please keep reading, and tell me what you think.
-Scarlet