NOTE: I own nothing except Orva.

Orva sat on the divan, watching Erik compose. She bit her lip, glanced over at the vase of roses, then got up. She approached him, her hands behind her back.

"E-Erik?" she asked. He turned his head slightly in acknowledgment. "I-I w-was just w-wondering...Do you th-think I could try p-playing your organ?" Wow, way to ask him about the roses.

He stopped playing, and tilted his head in a curious manner. "You play?"

"I-I, n-no, I j-just... I wanted t-to do something else f-for a change," Orva sighed, her shoulders slumping in defeat.

Erik was quiet, and at first Orva thought he was going to tell her no, but then he scooted over to the side, giving her a place to sit. "If you're going to play on my organ, then I require you to be at least competent in its use," he told her. She blinked at him, then smiled, and sat down next to him. At least he was finally speaking to her again, even if he wasn't looking at her. "I trust you have a basic knowledge of all the notes?"

"A-ah...Th-the black k-keys are flat n-notes, and the white k-keys are regular notes, right?"

He sighed. "Good enough." He tapped a key on the left side of a set of two black keys. "This, is a C," he told her. He tapped another key on the left side of another duo of black keys. "Every key on the left side of two black keys is a C, all in different octaves. Place your hand here." He pointed at one of the Cs.

Orva did so, and he arranged her fingers so that each of them were positioned at one of the white keys. "Play me five notes." She did as instructed, her hand feeling awkward from the unusual positioning and movement. "Good. Now keep playing those notes until they are played smoothly and evenly." A few minutes passed of her simply playing those same notes over and over again. Slowly but surely, her hand started to feel more comfortable with the movement, and the notes came more smoothly. "Good," Erik complimented. "Now, do it again, but with your left hand."

15 minutes passed with her first positioning her hand the way her right hand had been positioned, and then with her trying to play the keys with it. At one point she had tried to play the notes too quickly, and Erik had had to grab hold of her hand, and slow her fingers down. "Evenly, I said. You must exercise control when playing any instrument." After she managed to play those five notes in a pleasing manner, Erik returned her right hand to the keyboard. "Now, do it all again with both hands." She tried, and failed repeatedly, many of her fingers not wanting to work in sync with one another. It was a little while before she was able to get them all to cooperate with each other, and play the notes correctly.

"There. Now you at least know the basics of how to play, which means you can play a basic song." He placed his right hand over hers, and gently pressed down on her fingers, causing them to play. It was a simple melody, gentle and sweet. Then he started moving her hand up and down the keyboard, the melody getting more complex. Orva glanced up at Erik, and saw a look of concentration on his face. He was getting lost in the music. He moved his arm in front of her in an attempt top commandeer her left hand, but his elbow bumped awkwardly against her, and he quickly moved his arm around her instead.

Orva blushed slightly at the closeness, and watched as her hands traveled all over the place, jumping a tier now and again. Then, on a spur of courage, Orva moved her finger without his guidance, and struck a flat note. Luckily, it created a rather nice compliment to the notes he'd just been playing, and he moved his hand off of hers. She continued to play at random, chewing on her lip as she played the keys in as gentle and simple of a way that she could handle. Erik played to her, his notes quickly turning into a complicated serenade. The two melodies weaved together in the air, complimenting each other in a spontaneously masterful duet. The two of them got lost in it, the music filling their heads and inspiring them both further.

Presently, Orva's hands started to feel tired, and she pressed down on a few select keys, hoping that Erik would take it into meaning that the song should end now. Even as the final sounds of the notes sung out and slowly died, he continued to play to them, so that when they were finally silent, they were expertly seen off. And then, he too stopped playing. Orva looked up, her hair brushing against his cheek, and jumped slightly at how close they ended up getting through the course of playing the song. Erik finally turned his head to look at her when he felt her hair brush his cheek, and his eyes widened in surprise. The two stared at each other, blue and brown looking into icy cerulean, their noses practically touching. And then they were touching, and Orva could feel his breath against her lips.

She closed her eyes, and tried to lean her head up, but then Erik suddenly leapt away in a huge clatter. She opened her eyes, and saw Erik on the floor, backing away from her.

"N-no, stop it, stop it, you, you witch..." he breathed, his chest heaving.

"E-Erik, wh-what are y-you doing?" Orva asked, standing up.

"Don't come near me!" he snapped. He looked like some terrified creature that had been backed into a corner. "Just stop it! Stop doing this to me!"

"Wh-what a-am I d-doing to you?" she asked, a hint of annoyance getting in her voice.

"This! This right here, it's what you do best! You're trying to hurt me, again!"

"M-me? T-trying to h-hurt you?" she scoffed, an incredulous look crossing her face before she was glaring. "I-if a-anyone's been h-hurting anyone, you've b-been hurting me!"

"What are you talking about?" He scowled at her.

"Y-you've b-been ignoring m-me! You've been a-acting like you want n-nothing to do with me f-for the last two weeks and a-a half! And yet, every morning, without f-fail, you leave me with these, these, meaningless r-roses!" Orva grabbed a pink rose lying on a nearby table, and threw it at him. "T-talk a-about mixed s-signals!"

"I'm the one giving mixed signals?" Erik growled, tossing the rose aside. "How about the bitch who keeps trying to seduce me?"

"E-excuse m-me?"

"Don't think I can't tell what you're trying to do!" Erik snapped, getting on his feet. "It's just like before, pretending to be my friend, just so you can stab me in the back later! You always do this!"

"I-I a-am not!"

"Yes your are! You pretended to be Christine so that you could separate me from her! You pretend to be a respectful friend, while also destroying everything I have behind my back! And now, you're trying to get even closer, just so you can crush me when you leave me!"

"Goddamnit! W-will y-you quit a-acting like you're a-always the victim?!" she shouted at him. "Th-things h-haven't exactly b-been peachy for m-me either! What about h-how I feel? I hate i-it here! I hate being a p-prisoner, and I hate never being able t-to go outside! I hate that you won't e-even let me out to help with building the g-garden! I hate that you never trust me!"

"You've never given me a reason to trust you!"

"Th-the h-hell I h-haven't! I have d-done nothing but try t-to help you! Everything I've d-done, I've done for the benefit o-of everyone else! And I am sick, o-of how no one is ever grateful for wh-what I do! What am I, a doormat to y-you people?! Don't reply to that. And now, this is th-the thanks I get? Your whiny, self-absorbed attitude?"

"How dare you," he sneered. "How dare you be so insulting, so-"

"I-it's t-true!" Orva interrupted. "Y-you've b-been acting l-like a little b-brat, all because you d-don't know how to handle l-liking someone-"

"What?!" Erik blustered. "Liking you? I hate you! You're the source of all of my woe!"

"A-admit i-it! You've b-been giving me th-those pink roses because y-you like me more than f-friends!" she cried out, pointing an accusatory finger at him.

He slapped her hand away. "You give yourself too much credit, my dear. You'd be lucky if any man showed the slightest bit of interest in you. I happen to have some standards-"

"Th-that's h-hilarious, coming f-from a mal-f-formed boogeyman whose own m-mother dropped on his head a-and left in the dust for a-all the world to mock!"

"Better than being a worthless doll!" he screamed back.

Orva's jaw dropped, and she stared at Erik. He glared back, breathing heavily. The word rattled in her skull, pounding on her brain. Worthless. It crushed her insides, and chilled her heart. Worthless. She felt moisture in her eyes, and the tears spilled down her cheeks. Worthless. Finally she looked away from him, no longer able to handle the look in his eyes. Worthless. She started to back away, her chest heaving. She wanted to scream, but had no voice. Something deep inside of her had just been shattered.

"...F-f-fine," she choked out. "I-I s-see how i-it is... If y-you don't want me h-here, then, then...I'm leaving!" She turned and fled down the hall.

"Going back on your promises, huh? Just like the lying whore you are!" she heard Erik yell at her. She screwed her eyes shut, suppressing a sob and throwing herself out the secret door. She ran up the narrow stairs there, her face in her hands.

0-0-0

Erik listened to her as she left, slamming open the secret door to the roof. He kicked over a nearby chair, and punched the wall. He stood there, still breathing heavily from the screaming match they'd just had. It was so quiet in the lair now, nothing moving. Just like how it used to be. The silence crushed down on Erik, making him hunch over. He hated silence. The silence was when the voices would come by, and taunt him. He could hear the echoes of the past in them, of the worthless surface people who had tortured him as a child.

He backed away, and sat down at the edge of the room, next to the lake, curling up with his arms around his legs and his chin resting on his knees. Worse still than the voices, was when there were no voices. When the silence itself would torture him, and he felt so alone. No one to talk to, no one to spend time with, no one to even see. Like he was the last person in the entire world. The loneliness crushed him, letting in the darkness, which invited more silence, which let in even more loneliness. A vicious cycle, which he tried to keep at bay by filling his lair with as much sound as possible. Trying to soothe his own loneliness through the comforting touch of music. He'd thought it'd be enough. He'd thought it'd be all he'd ever need. So long as there was music to keep the silence at bay, he would be fine.

Then Christine had appeared, and he fell in love with the sound of her voice. Though at the time completely untrained, he had remedied that, and in the process he'd learned of what an angel she was. So beautiful and perfect, so kind and loving. She had seemed too perfect.

But then, that all had changed. Suddenly, his entire world had been inverted and flipped upside down. And it had been horrible. Horrible, yet blissful at the same time. Beauty from pain.

Erik stared off into the abyss.

"No one would listen..." he sang softly, and music started playing in the air to accompany it.

"No one but her...

Heard as the outcast hears." He relaxed his fetal position, and took off his mask, studying it.

"Shamed into solitude

shunned by the multitude

I learned to listen

in my dark

my heart heard music.

I long to teach the world...

Rise up and reach the world...

No one would listen...

I alone

could hear the music." He set the mask down, then looked over into the lake, staring at his own disfigured reflection.

"Then at last

a voice in the gloom,

seemed to cry,

'I hear you!'" Slowly, his reflection transformed, the hair turning fair, and the disfigurement disappearing.

"I hear your fears

your torment

and your tears." From the water, he saw Orva's face looking up at him, a gentle smile on her face.

"She saw my loneliness...

Shared in my emptiness...

No one would listen...

No one but her

heard as the outcast hears..." Cautiously, he reached out a hand to touch her. But as soon as he did, the water was disturbed, the ripples taking away her image, and returning with his own ugly face.

"No one would listen...

No one but her...

Heard as the outcast hears..." The music continued on for only a second before ending. Erik looked around at his lair, his throat starting to clog up. I love her. "Orva," he breathed, quickly putting his mask back on and getting up. He grabbed his cloak, and his punjab lasso for good measure. He walked quickly to the secret entrance. The stairs looked foreboding, shadowed and gloomy. It was probably getting to be very late on the surface world. Closing the door behind him, he ran up the stairs.

-0-0-

Just as he suspected, it was night-time outside. He glanced around the roof. To the left was the nearly complete garden, with a bit of fencing, and raised from the roof so that enough dirt could be put inside. There, across from him, was Orva. She was standing on the ledge, being perfectly still. From what he could see of her profile, her expression was dead, and her eyes looked even more lifeless than usual. The wind fluttered around her, ruffling her dress.

"Orva, I'm sorry," Erik told her. "Please, just come back down with me." She didn't answer him. She didn't even respond to his presence. "...Orva? What are you doing?" She mumbled something he didn't catch. "What?"

"...E-everything i-in this w-world serves a p-purpose," she said softly.

"I beg your pardon?"

"Th-things th-that do n-not serve a p-purpose in this world...a-are killed."

"Orva, what are you talking about?" Erik felt his heartbeat pick up, and reached for his punjab lasso. "What are you doing? Step away from the edge, Orva, you're making me nervous."

"W-worthless th-things...deserve t-to be destroyed."

"Orva?" He took a step closer, taking his lasso out for security.

"...I-I a-am worthless." She let herself fall forward.

"Orva!" He threw his lasso out to her, it falling around her a second before she disappeared from sight. It was agony waiting that extra second to pull. When he did, all of her weight was suddenly on the rope, and it dragged him forward, so that he had to brace his foot against a nearby statue. "C'mon..." he growled, trying to pull her back up. Soon she up in sight again, and was slightly caught against the ledge. Careful not to let go of the rope, Erik got closer, and pulled her the rest of the way up. Waiting that extra second than what he was used to proved fortuitous, with the lasso snug around her waist and arms.

"You...you idiot," Erik breathed, removing the lasso from around her. She lay limply on the ground, not looking at him. He could see the bleeding rope burns on her arms, which would need attention to prevent infection. "You, how, why would you do that?!" he snapped, grabbing her by the shoulders and shaking her. "Why would you throw your life away over a silly fight? It's no reason to kill yourself!" She kept her face turned away, her bangs hiding her eyes. "Answer me!" It was a few minutes before she mumbled something. "What? Speak up, for the love of God!"

"...Y-you c-called me w-worthless," she whispered.

"Worthless?" Erik asked, remembering the hastily cobbled together insult he'd thrown earlier. She flinched as soon as he said it. "Why would it matter if I called you worthless?" She flinched again, and she started shaking.

"I-i-it's j-just..." she said, her voice trembling. "M-my e-entire life... I-I have always b-been told I was w-worthless. Always. And I believed i-it. But then, when I ended u-up here, I thought, 'this is my b-big chance.' I thought that for once in m-my life, I could do something useful. And then I-I wouldn't be worthless anymore. I thought I could make a-a difference, and make at least one person happy." Her voice started to crack and break, and Erik set her back down against the ground. She raised her arms to try and hide her face, curling up slightly. "A-a-and th-then...and th-then, you kidnapped m-me. But it was o-okay, because I was able t-to do what I'd set out t-to do. And I thought we were g-getting along." She sniffled and choked, and her face was flushed completely to that pale peach color. "A-and y-y-you... and y-you called me...th-that word... that W w-word... And I just... I h-had thought... I thought, that you... I-I... I thought you were becoming... My a-angel o-of music..." she confessed, so quietly that Erik almost didn't hear it.

Erik's jaw dropped, and his eyes snapped wide open, heat rushing into his face. He stared at her as she lay there, crying quietly on the ground. A few minutes passed of the two of them there, neither doing a thing, except for Orva's soft crying. Erik bit his lip, and rubbed at the back of his neck. Then, with a gentler look on his face, he looked back down at her.

0-0-0

"Flattering child

you shall know me," Orva heard Erik sing.

"See why in shadow

I hide..." She stopped crying, listening to the sound of his voice.

"Look at your face

in the mirror." Slowly, Orva turned her head to look up at him.

"I am there

inside!..." Orva managed to look up at him at just the right moment, with his voice and the music swelling perfectly. The moon was in just the right position so that it hung behind his head, resembling the halos of angels in stain glass windows. The light of the moon reflected off of his mask, making it a focal point. On his face, was the most gentle expression she'd ever seen directed towards her. The music washed over her, and her eyes widened in realization.

He was neither angel, nor man, nor phantom. He was music. An Angel of Music. A Phantom of the Opera. He was melody incarnate. Song embodied in a single man. Able to dance the line between heavenly hymn, and chaotic march. All three sides of him were the true him, because music flowed from all three.

She knew that this was the part in the song where she was supposed to sing Christine's part, but when she opened her mouth all that came out was a sob, and the tears flowed freely from her face.

0-0-0

When Orva looked up at him, he suddenly saw all the ice melt from her eyes. He sucked in some air in shock. No longer were her eyes dead looking, but filled with life. A bright, crystalline blue, shining and glittering with starlight. It transformed her features, stunning him with their beauty. She cried freely now, and he took her into his arms, and lifted her up.

"I am your

Angel of Music.

Come to me

Angel of Music," he sang softly to her as he carried her back across the roof.

"I am your

Angel of Music." They reached the secret door, and the stairs that led back down into his lair.

"Come to me

Angel of Music..." He closed the door behind them. It melded perfectly with the brick and stone, and looked like another part of the wall. His voice echoed slightly in the air, lingering before disappearing back into the darkness.