It was the next day when Christine and Raoul embarked upon their hunt to find Phantom's new pupil. The Vicomte was still furious at the Opera Ghost for halting Christine's lessons, and he couldn't wait to track down whichever sorry dog was foolish enough to take lessons from a monster like *him*. Raoul's only consolation was that Phantom's judgment of his new protégée's voice was probably *very* exaggerated: there was no way *anyone* could find someone as talented as he claimed at such short notice. She was probably nothing more than a chorus girl he'd offered singing lessons to after Raoul had gone off with Christine.
However, Christine wasn't so sure that Erik had picked just *any* girl out of the crowd. She knew that he was very serious about his students, and wouldn't take on a talentless dancer simply to show up her and Raoul. No, she was positive that all the Phantom had written in his letter was quite accurate, and began to rightfully fear for her singing career. It was hard enough landing a role with Carlotta in the way, how could she ever do so sans Phantom's assistance and with even more competition?
She began to feel angry at Phantom. Why had he made such a big deal about her choosing Raoul over him? If he had paid attention to her *at all* in the preceding six months, he would have realized that she and Raoul had already been engaged. Why did he make it so hard for her to stay happy? She glanced up nervously at her soon-to-be husband. Then again, the Vicomte wasn't making the transition very easy, either.
Her mind then returned to the subject at hand. Christine didn't know what Raoul's plans were for Erik's pupil, but she knew that they had to *find* her first, a task that would have been rather difficult if the answer hadn't tapped her future husband on the shoulder.
"Excuse me, Monsieur?" a flustered and rather sweaty man addressed Raoul, coming up behind them, "May I ask you something?" The man looked to be in his mid-to-late forties, and was dressed in brown, blood-specked garments. This worried the soprano a little, but she didn't let it show.
Raoul turned and appraised him, then, thinking that there was no harm in responding, said, "Yes, you may. What do you want?"
"Have you seen a young woman?" came the quick reply, "Average height, quite pale with almost-white hair? She's… my daughter," he said this last word with contempt, "And I'm supposed to look after her. She has disappeared, though, and I can't find her in any of her usual hiding places. I was hoping that *somebody* may have seen her."
Christine and Raoul exchanged a look, "Tell me," Raoul said slowly, "Can this young woman sing well?"
The stranger stared at them, confusion on his face, "Yes, how did you know? Did you see her?"
"No," Raoul said, fairly confident that he had found the Phantom's protégée, "But I have an idea."
The man breathed a sigh of relief, "Good. I wouldn't want anyone to see her out here. It might cause a panic."
"What do you mean?" Christine asked, "Is there something wrong with her? Is she sick or something?"
The man's expression grew dark, "No, Mademoiselle, it is worse than that. She's a two-faced witch, that girl is. On first glance, you may think she's the most beautiful woman to grace this opera house. Once you see past that beauty, though, you will see how truly horrendous she *really* is. If you see her, contact me *immediately*. She's like a wild animal, she is. Not to be handled if you're unprepared."
"We shall let you know if we see her," Raoul nodded, "And, in turn, you tell us if she turns up."
"Sure thing," the man said, turning to walk away, "Good day to the both of you." Just like that, Raoul and Christine were alone.
"Looks like *that* lead is out the window," Raoul mumbled, leaning against the wall to think.
"Well, I don't know," Christine said, worry painting her usually serene features, "He *did* say that she was a good singer, and that she was quite pretty. Raoul, what if Erik *did* take the woman in that the man told us about? What if he's in trouble?" Christine didn't know why she was so worried about Phantom. After all, didn't he just abandon her in favor of another woman? But… he *had* saved her from a lifetime of singing in the shadows, and had done many wonderful things for her during the period where she didn't know which man she truly wanted. She still loved Raoul more, of course, but perhaps, *perhaps*, she and Phantom could be "just friends"?
"I'm sure Phantom can fend for himself," Raoul replied, "After all, he's a crafty fellow. Besides, we aren't even sure if that woman really is the one we are looking for. For all we know, he could have taken an unknown chorus member, like he did with you, and this disappearance is a mere coincidence. *We* would never know the difference."
"But Madam Giry would," Christine suggested, "Why don't we ask her if anyone is inexplicably missing today? If not, then we know who it is, and we save Phantom from her!" Christine suddenly felt embarrassed, advocating her former-mentor in front of her future husband, "Er, save *her* from *Phantom*." Raoul did not seem to notice the slip-up.
"Good idea," he said, straightening his posture, "We'll go ask Giry. If there isn't anyone missing, then we will know who we're after and track her down. Once we do that, we will give her a stern talking-to, make her leave the Phantom, and then he shall come crawling back to you."
"What do you mean, "a stern talking-to"?" Christine asked, "If she's as dangerous as her father said, shouldn't we simply kick her out of the opera house and be done with it?"
"Well," Raoul shrugged, "There is always the chance that he was lying." Christine frowned a little. Suddenly, the idea of rescuing Erik from the woman seemed less noble if she turned out to be harmless. Nevertheless, she nodded.
"You may be right," she said, "I apologize, this entire affair just seems so odd to me. It feels like it should be I who has been taken by Erik, not some other woman; it should be the entire company on the hunt for her, not just us."
Raoul gave her a light smile, "Don't worry about it, the feeling will pass," he said, and then gestured to the main theatre, "Come, let us go find Madame Giry now. No doubt she's already out there, drilling her dancers into the ground." He held out his hand and Christine slowly took it. He began to lead her toward the stage, and, hopefully, toward some answers.
