Raoul and Christine ran into Madame Giry almost immediately after Phantom and Angel departed the stage. She was in the middle of an informal rehearsal, and had her eyes trained on the dancers. The woman didn't seem surprised to see them, and hardly looked up as the pair approached.
"I see you two have returned," she said, carefully watching the chorus, then added with a sarcastic tone, "I can only wonder why."
"I am going to be brief, Madame," Raoul said, "Are any of your students missing inexplicably? Believe me, this is a matter of great importance to us, as it may involve-."
"The Phantom of the Opera?" Giry finished, "I *knew* you would try something like this, Vicomte. No, none of my dancers are gone, which is just as well, considering that Phantom did not take in one of them."
"Do you know who he *did* take, then?" Christine asked, a twinge of worry in her voice. Neither of the other two noticed that the emotion was for Erik as opposed to her career.
"I suppose it wouldn't hurt to tell them," Giry muttered to herself, then addressed the duo before her, "She is called the Angel of the Opera, and spent her days mostly alone in the attic prior to Phantom saving her from a life in darkness. Because of her wonderful voice, he decided last night to tutor her. According to him, it would be a crime to let such a voice go to waste, and I believe it."
"This "Angel"," Raoul pressed, "She wouldn't happen to have light hair, be of average height and pale, would she?" He recalled the description the man had given them only a short while prior.
"Why, yes," Giry responded, a confused look on her face, "How did you know?" Christine and Raoul exchanged worried looks.
"Her father told us that she was dangerous," Christine said.
"Yes," the Vicomte continued, "And we wouldn't want another monster prowling the Opera House, would we? The man made her out to be some devilish creature from the very depths of Satan's realm, and it would probably be a good idea to get rid of her, if that is the case."
"Well," Madame Giry replied, "I certainly do not know her as well as her father does, but she did not seem dangerous in the least when I saw her a moment ago. If I were you, Monsieur, I would choose carefully who to believe. The innocent are frequently hurt unjustly out of another's drive for revenge."
Raoul looked at her for a moment, then nodded, "Thank you for letting us know. We will allow you to get back to your dancers now."
"Thank you," Giry said, "And I pray that you two know what you are getting into. Realize that the Phantom of the Opera is not someone you cross paths with if you aren't on his good side. Even if you find the worst about the Angel is accurate, it would be inadvisable to tell him yourselves, unless you wish to feel the full force of his rage." She turned her back on them and went back to keeping an eye on the chorus's rehearsal, indicating that the conversation was over. Raoul and Christine began to walk away.
"What are we going to do now?" Christine asked, "That is, I assume our next course of action is to find this "Angel of the Opera" and try to convince her to leave the Phantom, but how are we going to do that? I mean, no matter what we do, it's a no-win situation: we find out she is as dangerous as claimed, and we are dead; we find out that she is docile, convince her to leave, and Erik will undoubtedly do something to ruin us; we cannot convince her to leave him, she tells Phantom and we face a permanent state of mistrust from him."
"I see no other alternative," Raoul said, shaking his head and walking in the direction of the common entrance to the underground caverns, "If we do not proceed, your future is at stake." He stopped and gripped her shoulder with both hands, "Never forget, Christine, that I am doing this for *you* and your career. If I loved you any less, I wouldn't bother walking into the depths of the Phantom's lair to track down a potentially dangerous woman to allow you to continue singing. However, I do not, so I shall. For you."
Christine nodded uneasily, "I know." She could tell that he was being sincere about his love for her, but… his motives still seemed misplaced. He kept talking about how he was only going after this Angel because it was in her best interests, but then why did it seem like he was taking it so personally? Yes, she worried for her career, yet, if the Angel *was* better than she, her moral side told her, then would she not *deserve* a lead role more often than herself? But the Vicomte did not care what was fair or unfair, apparently. That thought reminded her bitterly of how Phantom had treated her early on: Christine *had* to have the part, and if she didn't, heads would roll. The only difference was that, in Phantom's case, those thoughts *were* reasonable: Carlotta was indeed *not* a good singer, whereas in this case, Angel allegedly was. Christine frowned. She didn't know what to make of it.
Raoul released her and they began walking once more, "We aren't even sure if this paranoia is warranted," he mused, "Despite claims to the contrary, this "Angel of the Opera" may not really be as good as everyone thinks. For all we know, the acoustics in the attic simply make it *sound* like she is good, while she is only really mediocre. Why, we don't even know if your singing career is actually in-." Raoul stopped and stared straight ahead, looking at the exact thing that Christine had noticed half a second before. There, at the entrance to the underground caves, was a rope suspended from the ceiling.
A rope with a man attached to the end of it.
The Angel's father.
"Apparently," Christine said, throat dry, "The Angel's voice is enough to kill over, at least." Raoul seemed to regain his composure.
"Come," he said, taking a shocked Christine's hand and leading her past the body, "We cannot turn back now." Suddenly, a note fluttered down from above. Mademoiselle Daae knelt down and picked it up.
"'If you dare touch the Angel'," she read, "'The same fate shall befall you. ~ O. G.'" She looked up from the note, "Are you *sure* we should go on?"
Raoul's expression hardened, "I've seen this trick of his before," he said dismissively, continuing down into the caves, "He will not scare *me* off so easily. *You*, however, may be another question." Still wary but not wanting to seem afraid, Christine followed him, down into the darkness beneath the Paris Opera House.
Author's Note: In case you didn't notice, because I plan on making this just a tad more violent in the future, I have increased the rating on this story to "T", just to play it safe.
