The family gained a new member. The three children had another "Uncle" suddenly other than the Daroga. It wasn't only good for them and Erik and Christine, but for Raoul as well.
Raoul de Chagny, as a retired and injured sailor, was sent home as "injured and unable for service", and he spent the last few years quietly, retreated in a family property outside Paris to hide from most of the crowd, ashamed of his injury and crying over his lost love and fingers. He was now physically and emotionally (but thankfully, not financially) broken, felt old, and had lost all hope to have a normal family. He thought no woman would want him with an injured hand – and he only loved Christine Daaé in all his life. He knew well that the woman was other man's, but he still did not wish to be unfaithful to the girl's memory, especially after spending the longest night of his life in that Torture Chamber. He felt he needed to stay with her, at least in soul, and never was able to cheat on her. Not even with the courtesans. It wasn't his style. Raoul, even though he had long and desperate years alone, and was depressed most of the time, refused to bury himself alive and become a drunkard as many of his mates would do. On the contrary, he wanted to occupy his thoughts and not to indulge in his depression a lot. He picked up new hobbies, and he read a lot. One of his hobbies became that he started learning new languages. He did not know when and how would he actually use them, but learning words and phrases gave him hours of occupation and he did not have much time left to dwell on his misfortune. He sometimes wondered if Erik felt the same way under the Opera and sometimes he caught himself understandingly talking to his arch enemy. He wanted to be strong, and he had to face that fate made him grow up abruptly. After his brother's death, the affair with Christine Daaé, and the awful shipwreck and hospital stay he wasn't the young and girly 21 year- old boy he used to be when he met Christine. He matured a lot throughout the years, and knew that he made many mistakes as well during those months when that awful little Angel of Music scenario played out. Even though he was still sad about the outcome, he was still happy about Christine's happiness. She seemed to be glad with Erik and her children.
How much he wanted children! He used to imagine when he was 21, that he and Christine will get married and have children. One of the boys could have been named Philippe… He was sure Christine wouldn't mind it. Seeing Christine with children broke his heart a bit in the beginning. Those children could have been his, and the two boys were absolutely adorable. And Mahtab wasn't that bad either, especially since he found out how very talented that girl was. It creeped him out in a way, but since she and Erik made his hand for him, he knew that girl was s kind little thing, always willing to help. He was happy to spend time with the children of Erik and Christine after some time. This was the only way to spend time with any children at all, this will be the closest way to see and have children with him.
Erik and Raoul slowly got closer to each other and they did not feel too much awkward about the other man's presence any more. When Erik and Christine arrived back from the Opera that night and saw Raoul with the children, Erik knew that the man was kind to them and he got touched by the fact that Chagny put Mahtab to bed with the others and he even caressed her deformed small face. How could a man bear himself to touch the child? Only the Daroga touched her other than family, as he was used to her appearance, but Raoul was clearly terrified of the child before. But not anymore. As Erik made sure of Raoul's growing affection towards his daughter, Erik finally felt relief and thankfulness. He wanted to thank Raoul for accepting Mahtab, and as he wanted the child to get used to other people than her closest family, he invited Raoul to his home to spend time with them from time to time. The young man, even though he would have died of admitting this, was thankful as well to spend time with Christine and her family and accepted Erik's invitation with happiness. They slowly and steady got used to each other, and Raoul had to admit Erik wasn't that a monster at home. Christine, of course, was glad to know the two men she liked and loved a lot, were getting into a kind of friendly relationship. She wasn't thorn between her childhood friend and her husband, and it made her much calmer. She loved to talk to Raoul still, and yet Erik was still a bit of jealous sometimes, he never ever threw a tantrum again about the young man. On the contrary. He was a frequent guest, just as the Persian. There were times when both of the Uncles, Raoul and the Persian were invited for a Sunday lunch to Erik's home and they had to admit Erik was an excellent cook and a great host.
One day, in early winter of 1892, when such a Sunday occurred again, Raoul got an idea. Since he had not much time to talk to the Daroga yet, and he did not know him too well, they were getting to know each other on these Sundays, Raoul suddenly felt the urge to learn something new.
- Mohammed, my dear friend, may I ask a favor? – He inquired carefully.
- Of course. Anything I could help you with. – The Persian nodded.
- Please teach me some words in Farsi. – Raoul asked. – I love learning new languages, this is one of my new hobbies.
- But of course! – The Daroga smiled. – I did not think one would want to learn my language.
He taught Raoul the simplest phrases, mostly just to say Hello and introduce yourself in Persian. They both agreed to go slow and steady. Mahtab, though was crawling around in the room with a toy locomotive and played, did not seem to be there spiritually, she was just among the adults as she liked their presence a lot. The Daroga and Raoul thought she wasn't even paying attention to what they were talking about. Erik returned with coffee, and from that, they did not talk any more about Farsi language. They were playing chess mostly, or talking, but Mahtab disappeared from the room after a while to go play with her siblings.
The next morning, when Christine went to greet the children and kiss them good morning, Mahtab jumped off of her bed, kissed Christine and said:
- Sobh bekheyr ! Haleh shoma chetor ast?
- What… what did you say, Mahtab? – She asked with an indescribable surprise.
- She said good morning and asked how you were. – Erik stepped in the room, and scratched his head. – I did not know she knows some Persian. When did you learn it, Mahtab?
- Yesterday.
- You weren't even paying attention. – Erik lifted her up and examined her just as if he saw her for the first time.
- I was. – She grinned.
- Hm…- Erik scratched his head again than sat on the bed with the girl on his lap. – Which language do you want to learn, my dear daughter, huh?
- All of them. – The quick response came.
After Erik found out Mahtab's another hidden talent, he started teaching her to talk and write in other languages than her native French. She loved Persian and Italian the most, but English was also a good language to learn. She was an incredibly fast learner, just like Erik. Her only weak spot was music. She really wasn't the most talented in that field, but she enjoyed it nonetheless. Languages, however were just as easy to teach her to as mathematics or reading. It did not cause her any trouble to learn multiple languages. She did not mix up words, she did not confuse sentence structures, and she was able to talk in shorter sentences in a few weeks. Raoul and Tonton Mohammed were both astonished about the child's immense talent and memory.
- That child scares me, Erik. – Mohammed stated half- jokingly.
- I was the same way. – Erik shrugged, noticing nothing special about Mahtab talking in so many languages as a 6 year old, and counting like a grown up engineer.
- Might be, but a child should not know so many things yet. She is only a child…
- I can't tell her not to remember things.
- I know but she might turn out just as a maximalist too perfectionist overly- compensating person as you are.
- With such a face as we have it was to be expected. – Erik shrugged again. – How could we lead a "normal" life and turn out as a "normal' child if you look like this? I did not want more children, you know, but actually now I am happy she isn't an only child. At least she has real friends. Her brothers. Like this, she can turn out to be somewhat normal. Not like Erik. Hopefully.
- Erik… have you thought of… teaching her… everything you know? – The Daroga inquired, narrowing his eyes in suspicion.
- Anything she is willing to learn. – He nodded.
- But... you know what I mean, right?
- Daroga, I have been waiting with that. I did not know when to start it, but I guess she is old enough now to learn… such things. She has to defend herself somehow. People will hurt her. No doubt. I am afraid in advance of what might happen to her once I can't keep her safe.
- Keeping her safe isn't the same as keeping her locked up.
- What should I do to her? Christine says I should let her meet other children. But what a normal parent would let their child close to mine? – He sighed and waved in the air.
- You have a point, sadly. But still maybe you could… take her somewhere.
- We are going on a vacation to Perros in June. I promised it to Christine the last spring. Until that I teach her to defend herself.
- Erik… please promise you won't give her a Punjab lasso.
- But of course, not. She is not old enough to handle it. She might strangle herself or the boys. I am not crazy.
- Erik, do you allow me to explain her what murder means and why is that a bad thing…?
- Why, is it a bad thing?
- ERIK!
- All right. What do you think, why are you still with us? You are an Uncle to her who teaches her the right things if her father is crazy. I need you Daroga.
- You do fairly well, Erik. I did not think you will turn out to be half as a good father as you are. But I know what you mean. Well, at least you will have a great time together. I think she will love it. Just teach her to swim.
- I will. But why are you talking about this as "you" instead of "we"?
- Why, am I going there as well?
- I wanted to ask you, yes. Of course, only if you want to.
- But of course! – He exclaimed happily.
- And also Raoul comes with us.
- I hope you won't get into temptation and push him into the sea.
- It won't have much use. He can swim, that handsome sailor.
- It is not the right way to reason it. – The Daroga scolded.
- I know- I know! . Erik's tone changed, just like if he was reciting the lesson he learned by heart from a history book and started sputtering: - It is a bad thing to murder people because there is no more valuable thing on Earth than a human's life and another human may not take it.
The Daroga nodded. At least Erik KNOWS the reason why not to kill anyone.
In the next few weeks Erik tried his best to teach Mahtab to defend herself, but she did not seem to get the hang of it. He did not force it on her, but wished she will learn to do it as soon as possible. It was a hard thing to explain to Mahtab as he never hurt her before and Mahtab did not hit or kick him either in a long time since she did not throw any more tantrums.
- Why do you want me to hit you, Papa? – She asked with concern. – I love you, I don't want to hurt you.
- It is just a game, Mahtab. – Erik explained. – We are playing.
- I don't want to play this game to hit Papa.
- Look, it doesn't hurt, it is a good thing. We are practicing.
- What?
Erik's heart sank as he tried his best to collect what he should say to Mahtab. He knew that she was still afraid of the memories about the train and he just hoped she already forgot the incident when she was beaten as a toddler. He put his hand on Mahtab's shoulder and closed his eyes before a deep inhale.
- Dear… do you remember what has happened earlier… when they hurt you?
- I do. - She nodded, shuddering a bit.
- I want to teach you what to do if it happens again. – Erik said softly.
- I won't hit them. – She shook her head.
- Don't say that, Mahtab, you shall.
- I won't.
- Why?
- Because it hurts a lot. I don't want them to hurt a lot. Especially not you. Please don't make me.
- But then what will you do? – Erik asked.
- I run. – She stated simply.
- My daughter is not a coward. My girl defends herself. – Erik said bitterly.
- I run. – She repeated and left Erik kneeling there.
Other attempts resulted in the exact same outcome. She refused to hit or kick Erik in any given situation. He was trying to surprisingly sneak up on her sometimes, and imitate an attack, of course, not too rough, but it broke his heart when his daughter started crying instead of giving him a punch in the face.
- Papa, why do you want to hurt me? I wasn't bad. – She hugged Erik, sniffing, rubbing her tear-soaked face all over Erik's chest.
- Oh, Mahtab… why are you such a good hearted child? You shouldn't be so pure in your situation. – Erik cried as well, hugging Mahtab very close to himself.
Her mother and the Daroga were both relieved about the news that bothered Erik to no end, but he decided to leave the girl alone with this issue for a time. Maybe she isn't mature for fighting yet.
Christine suggested that they should try out a prosthetic nose on Mahtab instead of a mask when they take her to Perros. Erik agreed, and made a small fake nose attached to Mahtab's head with a rubber band, and made her wear it weeks before the departure so she will have time and opportunity to get used to it. She did not like it too much, of course. She complained she did not get much air through her nose anymore and it bothered her while eating as well. Erik removed his human mask and showed his old prosthetic nose to Mahtab and attached it for himself.
- Look dear, now we are wins. – He smiled.
- Mhm. – Mahtab nodded and smiled back. – All right.
After that, she slowly got used to her new nose and did not whine about it as she saw Papa walking in his own in the house as well. If he can handle it, she can too! She will show him she is a good and big girl, who can handle anything.
On a beautiful day in June, the whole family departed to go on a vacation. Mama was talking about this happening for weeks, so the older children were excited about it as much as possible. All of them, even Shadow was taken. Noel sat on Mama's lap and giggled endlessly, while pointing at everything he saw during the road to Perros. Mahtab and Flo were chatting or singing together while Erik tried his best to concentrate on driving, and ignoring Mahtab's sneaky attemprs of turn the wheel away.
- If you don't stop it, I will tie you up. – He scolded her after a time.
Mahtab wasn't too happy for the reason that Christine made her wear a dress. It was a thing she did not do for a while and she stated it was uncomfortable for her. Christine still did not dismiss the idea of guiding her daughter back to a normal ladylike way of dressing and acting. She had a daughter, for God's sake! Mahtab's dress was navy blue, with a white collar and a red ribbon in her neck, and she wore a sailor hat like any fashionable girls in her age. She hated it. Sadly, Mama refused to pack her boyish clothes for the vacation.
- You are beautiful and very sweet looking, my dear. Don't worry. You are a cute little girl.
Christine reassured her more times. Erik did not say a word to it, he only hoped that they won't meet too many people who might hurt Mahtab. Her nose- hole was covered, but it did not help her pale skin and missing half- lip, and sunken mismatched eyes. He would have put a mask on her if it did not anger Christine so much.
When they arrived, they met the Daroga and Raoul there. Shadow was instantly released to run as he wanted, and the children asked if they may go exploring as well. Erik instantly wanted to say no, as he wanted to keep an eye at the children, but the Daroga silenced him. He said he will be in their heels if something was about to happen, so the children were safe to go. Erik did not like the fact too much, but he had to admit that he was over protective about his children, so he finally agreed about staying in that small house they rented with Christine, Noel and Raoul while the Daroga took Flo and Mahtab outside to the shore.
- Don't go near the water! – He yelled after them.
- Oh Erik, please relax. – Christine smiled and placed a gentle kiss on Erik's forehead. – We are on a vacation. We will follow the children as well after we finish packing the suitcases inside.
- We would be done if you did not carry the whole house with us for two weeks. – Erik moaned under his breath.
- Who is talking now, huh? – Christine laughed. – Who carried a full orchestra?
- It is just my violin, and the smaller one for Flo.
- And a recorder, a harmonica, a mandolin and a triangle.
- The harmonica fits in my pocket and it is for Mahtab. She may sit on rocks and play for the… whatever sea creatures she might see from there. And of course, I take proper musical instruments, what should I do at nights, other than playing… or reading perhaps?
- Erik, you clearly don't understand the concept of vacations. People don't work while they are relaxing.
- Erik never relaxes. – He muttered, lifting the last remaining suitcase out of the car.
While walking, Mahtab noticed a small figure sitting on a cliff near the shore. She tilted her head to the side to examine it more and then she saw it was another child. She was happy to see another young child other than her brothers and excitedly ran to the cliff to greet her mate. The other one did not move, not even when she approached the cliff very closely. It was another girl. She wore a plain yellow dress and she had long carrot red hair.
- Hello there! – Mahtab greeted as the girl did not seem to notice her.
- Hello. – The girl jumped a bit alarmed as she was suddenly startled up from her musings, but smiled as she turned her head towards Mahtab.
- What are you doing here? – Mahtab went on.
- I am listening to music.
- Really? – She gasped. – And where are the musicians? – She looked around, seeing nothing.
- Right here in front of you. – The red haired girl laughed, pointing at the roaring and splashing water.
- Hm. You might be right. – Mahtab wondered for a second. – May I join?
- Of course, you may. – The girl nodded. – Are you new to this place?
- Yes. How do you know it? – Mahtab asked.
- I have never heard your voice before.
- I am on a vacation with Papa and Mama and with my two brothers.
- Do you have brothers? – Her face lit up. – It sounds so good. – She added dreamily. – I always wanted siblings.
- Why, don't you have them?
- No. I am alone. With Mama.
- Do you live here?
- Yes. – She nodded.
- What's your name?
- I am Sophie. And you?
- Mahtab.
- What? – She asked with surprise.
- Mahtab. – She repeated. – It means Moonlight.
- Nice name. A bit of strange. – She smiled. – But I like it.
- Do you want to be my friend? – Mahtab asked.
- Of course. – She nodded. – I have no friends here. – She added a bit of sadly. – I am glad if you want to be.
They did not talk more for a time. Mahtab climbed up on the cliff next to Sophie to listen to music as well. She closed her eyes to hear it better. The Daroga smiled contently while leading Flo along the shore, explaining to him the beautiful sight they were looking at. Christine was right. Perros is really a magical place to visit.