A/N: Ok, so this is something different from what I usually write so I hope you like it!
Turns out, I now ship E/C and realized how much of a horrible fop Raoul is! Enjoy this fanfic where Erik and Christine have their happily ever after and that evil fop dies :)
If you like it, send me a review! OK Plzthxbai?
Anyways, enjoy! Kudos if you caught all the references to certain movies!
"Mm," Christine groaned as the sun's first rays filtered through the curtains and the birds began to chirp their merry tune, not wanting to wake up. It had been three months since the day that she left the Phantom's Lair. And deep down, she felt something gnawing at her as if she were about to throw up or cry… almost as if… she regretted her choice.
"Me, regret my choice?" Christine asked herself before quickly dismissing "No, I made my choice, and now I have to stick with it!"
"Christine," a maidservant whispered as she rocked the Vicomtesse gently out of her slumber "Time to wake up,"
The young woman felt as if her eyelids were heavy from sleep and she forced herself to get out of bed as the maids helped her get dressed to meet the Vicomte, her fiance.
After breakfast, Christine found Raoul in his study. He was obviously grouchy and irritated "So, my wife, have you planned anything for the wedding? After all, it's only a month away."
"Well," she twirled a strand of her own hair, feeling guilt gnaw at her stomach. Well, it was true. She loved Raoul but… she felt unsatisfied. She wanted… something more with her life than to look pretty and be a trophy to satisfy men "I have been distracted…"
His face formed into a snarl "I need you to start planning! We only have a month left!"
"Wait, I can explain!" she raised her hands in surrender before feeling a hand strike her cheek, knocking her against the chair as he pinned her wrists against the wall.
"Well, give it to me now, or else…" the fop threatened in a low voice.
"I have been missing the Opera House, I wish to sing again and-" the young woman tried to explain slowly, looking away from the Vicomte before he kicked her in the stomach.
"You promised that when we got out of the lair, you would not utter another word about singing or that wretched monster again!" Raoul barked at her, ignoring Christine's pained expression.
"He's not the monster, Raoul! You are!" Christine weakly argued as he pulled himself closer to her.
"Why you…" Raoul dropped her and grabbed her by the throat, every word dripping with venom "Even though you aren't married to me yet, you are still mine, Little Lotte…"
"Please, stop…" Christine hoarsely croaked, ready to cry. Raoul looked at Christine for a moment before releasing his grip. She panted for breath as she reached for her sore throat…
"Did I make the right choice?" she asked herself once again as Raoul left the room…
Meanwhile, back in the opera house, the infamous Phantom of the Opera was at work, but he wasn't able to think right now.
"Oh, Christine," Erik sobbed silently as he looked at his organ "Why did you have to betray me for that fop? I gave you everything and was there when he wasn't… Oh, my Christine…"
The Phantom soon began to play a miserable tune as lyrics formed in his head:
"Never knew I could feel like this...
It's like I've never seen the sky before...
Want to vanish inside your kiss….
Every day, I'm loving you more and more...
Listen to my heart, can you hear it sing?
Come back to me and FORGIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIVE everything!
Seasons may change! Winter to spring...
I Love You, til the end of time"
He collapsed to the floor and let out his sorrows, wishing his Christine would realize her mistakes and return to him.
Three weeks later, wedding preparations were full swing ahead! Christine began dreading the days getting closer to the wedding. For days, Christine had gone shopping with all of Raoul's arrangements and orders. He scrutinized every single detail and was too drunk to even care that she was upset. Weddings were supposed to be the best day of a woman's life but… somehow, she didn't feel like the radiant bride.
"Oh, you look beautiful…" the seamstress cooed "Now, we have to make a few adjustments and by tomorrow, it would be ready."
"Oh, I'm very curious indeed…" Christine fibbed, feeling even worse than a month ago.
Once Christine got home from all the shopping, she went up to her room, fell onto her bed, and began to sob. She let her frustrations, sadness, and hatred out as she wailed over her own plight. Oh, why was she even crying? She felt ashamed for some reason… Christine began to sing, her voice hoarse and weak from crying:
"And now I'm all alone again.
Nowhere to go, no one to turn to…
Without a home, without a friend, without a face so say hello to…
And now the night is near, now I can make believe he's here..."
Her song was soon interrupted by a loud slam of the door. She felt dread loom over her "Raoul…"
"So, Christine!" he condescendingly began, each word becoming louder and louder "I see you have thought of that monster, you treacherous hussy!"
"Raoul, no…" she tried to lie her way out of this as he began to move closer to her "I made my choice and-"
"Yes, but you decided to lie to me and trample on two men's hearts! Now, you will pay for this!" And with that, the fop pinned her to the bed, tearing away her clothes…
Christine let out a bloodcurdling scream as his hands coldly touched her body "Oh Erik, please save me…"
Erik sulked in the corner, trying to imagine what his treacherous Christine was up to now. Perhaps rolling in the fop's money and looking down on others' misfortunes.
But somehow, his heart knew she wouldn't do it… When she kissed him that night, it was… pure, and passionate, and almost as if she were begging to stay… but he let her go for who could ever learn to love a beast?
"Did I make the right choice?" Erik wondered to himself before he went to bed.
Christine curled up in her bed, sobbing silently as her once white nightgown was dyed a blood red. The boy who rescued her scarf… he changed. And she knew he couldn't change back to that same boy years ago… Oh, if only she had known… As she wondered what to do, Christine began to belt out "She Used To Be Mine".
After singing out her feelings, she knew what to do… Christine had to run away and leave all the hurt behind.
She began to change into another dress, one that hid her bruises.
Packing up a few dresses, some money, and other knick-knacks, Christine gingerly opened the window and YEETed herself out into the streets, miraculously surviving the fall (even though it's not recommended in real life as you could end up with permanently broken bones or even death).
Before anyone could notice, she dashed to the place that she considered her sanctuary…
Once she arrived at the burned-down Opera House, Christine tilted her head and looked inside… She raised a lantern to find her way through…
"Oh, my angel…" Christine whispered to herself as she placed a hand over her heart "Are you even alright?"
Oh God, it would all be her fault if he were found dead… she found herself beginning to sing as she made her descend to this eternal darkness:
"I follow the night, can't stand the light…
When will I begin to live again?
One day I'll fly away, leave all this to yesterday
What more could your love do for me? When will love be through with me?
Why live life from dream to dream and dread the day when dreaming ends?"
Erik looked up, hearing the voice of an angel… Could it be? No! He was dreaming! It must be that!
He turned to face Christine, in flesh and bone. Her face was covered with tears, and her eyes lost their sparkle. Her curly brown hair was disheveled, but she still looked like an angel…
"Angel…" Christine finally spoke, reaching out to him.
"No, I must be dreaming!" Erik flinched "Why… Why did you come back to me? I'm a monster!"
"No, angel… Raoul… was the monster," Christine sniffled "he, hit me and yelled at me… and he," she soon collapsed to the floor and began to burst out into tears.
"Oh, Christine…" guilt welled up in Erik's stomach as he pulled her close with his sexy muscular arms, shushing her as he began to sing a song of comfort:
"Come stop your crying, it will be alright.
Just take my hand, hold it tight.
I will protect you from all around you
I will be here, don't you cry
For one so small, you seem so strong
My arms will hold you, keep you safe and warm
This bond between us can't be broken
I will be here, don't you cry
'Cause you'll be in my heart
Yes, you'll be in my heart
From this day on, now and forevermore
You'll be in my heart, no matter what they say
You'll be here in my heart, always"
Christine looked up at him with sorrowful, pleading eyes "Oh my angel… I made the wrong choice that night and… can you forgive me?"
"Of course I forgive you…" Erik gently answered as he ran his fingers through her hair "But call me Erik…"
"Oh, Erik…" Christine sighed happily as she laid her head onto his chest… "I need you, I love you…"
And soon enough, he pulled her into a deep and passionate kiss and they felt the sleeping bud burst into bloom. And soon, they were past the point of no return, beneath this moonless sky…
It had been four days since Christine flew back into her angel's arms. They spent their days taking care of each other, singing, making music as well as making love. They were content in their own little world, forgetting the real world and what kind of responsibilities they had. Christine forgot about her fiancé while Erik forgot about all his past heartbreaks because what the hey? Christine's a fixer-upper therapist girlfriend!
But on the fifth day, Christine remembered what was outside in this cruel and vicious world.
"You've got to carry on without me, Erik. ... It always ends badly" the young woman sighed as she stared out into the lake "I wish I weren't engaged to Raoul but… that's just fate,"
"What! No! You can't! After all this time…" Erik pleaded desperately before coming up with an idea. No, it was not broccoli ice cream as while the author loves broccoli (shocker, I know) and ice cream respectively, she could NOT imagine these two together. And besides! Ice cream in general was not well-known in the 19th century. Love and fate were so cruel to others but perhaps…
"Let's run away together!" Erik proposed "Anywhere you go, let me go to…"
"But where do we run off to?" her eyes widened.
"America, London, Italy… anywhere you want!" his eyes brightened before whispering "I will love you, always…"
After the two began to duet "All I've Ever Known", a loud crashing sound resonated throughout the sewers as Christine gasped in horror. It was…
"Raoul," Christine felt bile rise up in her throat. There was no way she was returning to her fiance.
"I always suspected that you were unfaithful!" he bellowed as he grabbed Erik and placed a knife against his throat.
"Erik! No!" Christine gasped as Erik flailed around helplessly.
"So, Christine…" Raoul threatened, putting the blade closer to Erik's neck "Do you end your days with me or do you send him to his grave?"
"I…"
"Answer me, Christine! Either you marry me or kill him!" After a long, painful silence, Christine finally spoke up.
"I will, I will do it!" she tried to stop the tears threatening to spill out. She almost killed Erik by betraying his heart and she can't do it again.
"Good," Raoul smirked evilly as he dropped Erik to the ground and dragged Christine by the wrist "You will be my wife by tomorrow!"
As the two left, the young woman gave apologetic and regretful glances at her angel, visibly distraught and heartbroken.
Raoul had locked Christine away from the outside world in order to prevent her from running away before the wedding day. The night before the wedding, Christine looked out of the window. She wished that she could have stayed with Erik but if Raoul killed him… The young woman sighed at how cruel fate was before singing "Far Longer Than Forever" with Erik in his cavern, vowing to save Christine from this nightmare…
Finally, the wedding day arrived. Christine felt a gnawing pit of shame open up in her stomach as the wedding march began to play on the organ, reminding her of Erik once more.
"It's for his sake…" she told herself as the mahogany doors of the church thrust themselves open.
Christine felt as if she were walking on eggshells, one slip up and Raoul would see through her facade and that this was her ingenious plan.
Once she reached the altar, she tried to find Erik in the sea of faces but alas, he was nowhere to be found.
"Do you," the priest's words brought Christine back to reality "Christine Daae, take Raoul, the Vicomte de Chagny, to be your lawfully wedded husband?"
"I… I do," the young woman sighed hesitantly after a long moment of silence.
"Any objections? Speak now or forever hold your peace…"
"Stop this wedding! STOP THIS WEDDING!" a familiar voice bellowed as the mahogany doors slammed open.
"Erik!" he saw his angel cry with fear and worry.
"So you came back for your treacherous snake, hmm?" the fop smirked evilly as he grabbed Christine like a potato sack and dashed up to the roof of the church. Erik took after them, wishing to save his Christine for good.
"Raoul, let me go!" Christine barked angrily as she tried to slap Raoul away once they reached the roof.
"You heard her! Let her go!" Raoul twirled an invisible mustache as he saw the Phantom on the roof…
"Ah, yes. Little Lotte… it's time to say goodbye unless you marry me…"
"Over my dead body!"
"Oh well then, I can work with you then…" Raoul grabbed Erik by the collar and dragged him to the edge of the room before stabbing him with a conveniently stored away sword.
"Raoul, stop this instant!" Christine bravely yelled, trying to hide the tremor in her voice "Or else…"
"Ah look at that! This is a twist on our story! The princess rescues the villain. And now, the villain is the damsel-in-distress!"
"I'm not going to let you kill him!" she glared coldly at him as she positioned her hands into a mean hook.
"Oh, my Little Lotte… We're coming to the end of our story now. Are you at the edge of your seat, Christine, just dying to know how it ends?"
Christine saw the roof crumble as he continued monologuing, she coolly answered "Why yes,"
"Well, how about this?" Raoul sadistically cooed as he tossed aside Erik's body "And they all-"
The roof crumbled before him and he lost his footing, causing him to fall down to his death… A loud thud resonated as blood and entrails splattered all over the grass.
Christine scooped Erik into her arms and began to cry "Erik, Erik… please, answer me! Erik!"
He was bleeding profusely and wasn't breathing. She felt herself shake with anger and sadness as she sobbed profusely, crying buckets.
Christine's tears fell on the unconscious Phantom and by some miracle of God, Erik was enveloped in a cocoon of light and as he landed, his mask was no longer there and he was healed. Erik now looked…
"Christine," Erik smiled in disbelief "It's me!"
Christine cried tears of joy as she hugged Erik and they kissed passionately as the sun went down…
A week later, Christine and Erik were happily married and on their honeymoon to London. The orchestra struck up a rousing rendition of "I'm A Believer" as the two newly-weds kissed before singing along to the joyful tune. They had five hundred kids and lived happily ever after! After all, love never dies.
A/N: APRIL FOOLS'! Be grateful I didn't have the guts to purposefully butcher the rules of grammar and spelling.
Just to be clear, I'm not against E/C but I'm more of an R/C person (because Raoul is the lesser of two evils in general).
Reading a lot of E/C stories, I've noticed a large number of cliches that authors do when writing E/C stories and it's kinda still happening now (tho not as frequently). Not to say cliches are bad of course, but I now have a checklist of all the stuff to look for in an E/C fanfiction.
Anyways, I pointed out some POTO fanfic pet peeves I had while writing this satire poking fun at certain tropes such as (ranking from least to most annoying)…
Pet Peeve Number 1: When a character bursts out into song out of nowhere. OK, this isn't as popular as back then so I let it off the hook. But, I think it's a little lazy to copy and paste lyrics and not convert them into dialogue when necessary. If it's "Think of Me" or "Il Muto" or "Don Juan Triumphant", I have no problems since it's a play within a play. But try to show and not tell, focus on the emotions and thoughts of the characters during those scenes. This leads to…
Pet Peeve Number 2: The usage of contemporary songs in a fanfic. If it's a modern AU, that's alright but if it's in the canon time period… Please don't use them! It just doesn't work at all.
Pet Peeve Number 3: Erik is now an emo, sexy teddy bear. Ok, let's get this out of the way. I still think Erik deserved better but his toxic behaviour can't be denied. Erik won't suddenly be an angel overnight. Unlearning toxic behaviour can take a LONG time, and no, it cannot be Christine who has to teach him to be a better person. Only Erik can change himself into a better person by making mistakes. He has lots of problems that could take a lifetime of therapy sessions, it annoys me when fanfics try to depict Erik's only problems as being jealous/having temper issues because that just undermines his character. Change is slow and subtle, and he must truly mean to change!
Pet Peeve Number 4: Raoul becomes evil. Alright, imma just say this. Stop making Raoul seem like a giant scumbag. In the novel, movie and stage show, there's no indication/foreshadowing that he's gonna pull a Prince Hans (or Prince Paul (Kudos if you got the reference)) once they leave the lair. To me, it's kinda insulting and horrible about making Raoul abusive. Almost as if to 'punish' Christine for making the 'wrong' choice, thus creating lots of poorly written angst, hypocrisy and drama so she can 'redeem' herself for Erik. Just kill Raoul or write a modern AU or something like that. This leads up to the most annoying cliche I hate the most and makes me want to punch something:
Pet Peeve Number 5: The author blames Christine for everything! Most fans and authors sadly blame Christine for Erik's predicament and call her insulting slurs. She didn't realize Erik had been simping for her and it's not her fault she and Raoul fell in love. Christine only became afraid of him because he basically gaslighted her and kidnapped her against her will. To me, saying that Christine was horrible to Erik and should've stayed has a notion of victim blaming to it (which is even worse now since "Boys Will Be Boys" did NOT age well). The point is that Christine is simultaneously scared of him and sympathetic to Erik's past, however, she learns that she must make her own choices and not feel obligated to others to the point where she started hurting herself (mentally). He let her go because he finally cared more about Christine's happiness than his own desires. And even if Christine was insane enough to try and stay with him after everything that happened, he wouldn't allow it. He lost Christine because of his selfishness and willingly broke his own heart into a thousand pieces because he learned that their relationship won't work out. It was all Erik's doing, one hundred percent, and he's a better person because of it, so QUIT BLAMING CHRISTINE!
Anyways, that's all of the useless Badfic Lessons 101 for today. Have a happy and safe April Fools' Day!