Author's Note: "Oh my God! But Nathalie/Natalie is one of the most common names for an OC in Phanfics!" Well, then that's probably why Jovan goes by her second name! (I may or may not be sarcastic) And no, that's not breaking the fourth wall. Is it? *incoherent grumbling in the background* This isn't Deadpool, so yeah.

crimsonbloodwitch: I cannot express how thankful I am for every review that you leave at almost every chapter! Really, thank you so much! I'm glad to hear you loved my description of Erik's lair, among other things ― your words mean so much to me!

Le Fantome: You have no idea how grateful I am for your reviews, for every word of them! Thank you so, so much! And that reveal just brings them one step closer to each other! Well, not that close, since these two that we're talking about just happen to be a deformed antisocial genius and an eccentric secretive runaway, but it's progress!

( seventeen )

NEW FACES

Their latest production had resulted in a full house, an unparalleled delight for Monsieur Lefèvre as he raised his glass in a toast before the entire staff of the Opéra Populaire. Laughter and cheers rippled across the cast and crew members as they raised their own bottles and glasses in light of the success of their latest opera.

Jovan had decided long before the show started that she'd only have one glass of wine which Elea now offered her. The ballerina swore this time around that she'd keep an eagle eye on the redhead to prevent a repeat of her drunken stupor last time. As they participated in the celebrations backstage, Jovan couldn't help poke fun at her friend.

"Elea!" she called out to the ballerina through the music being played from a quartet of stringed instruments. "How are things with you and Aldrich?"

At the mention of her suitor, Elea blushed a deep red as she winked at Jovan. "Nothing but smooth sailing, my friend."

Jovan exaggerated a gasp at her friend's words. "Has he proposed yet?"

"What? No!" Elea giggled.

"Ladies!" they heard a familiar voice behind them and turned to see Mateo with a bottle of whiskey in his hands. "Edify me, won't you? What's the juicy gossip here?"

As he nosed his way between the two girls, Jovan couldn't help but chuckle at the stagehand's drunk antics. "But, monsieur, you seem far too drunk to be able to indulge yourself in a conversation."

Elea nodded in agreement as Mateo leaned against the ballerina while he reached for the beret on Jovan's head. With his free hand, he grabbed it and placed it atop his own head with a crooked grin. "Witness me," he told them before raising the bottle to his lips. He took a long swig from it, the alcohol burning down his throat, until his legs gave out below him and he crumpled to the floor.

The ballerina shrieked in amusement while Jovan swiped up the bottle of whiskey from Mateo's floor before it could hit the floor. She passed it on to the nearest stagehand before she joined in laughing at the state of Mateo. After a brief moment, both Elea and Jovan decided that it would be too cruel to leave the stagehand in the middle of the place where he could be stomped to death. They began to haul him away from the floor and brought his unconscious form towards the nearest corner.

The night progressed rather smoothly for Jovan. While she spent most of her time around Elea and, later on, Tess as well, she had to admit that she was having a good time even without alcohol buzzing in her veins. She took part in the merriment, dancing with a few of the more decent stagehands and even singing along with the rest of the opera staff, even if majority of them, her included, were off-key. But it was all good fun and, in the morning, she found that she actually enjoyed the night.

And then the performing nights finally ended, and Maeva Grosjean left the ballet corps along with four stagehands and two chorus girls.

Silent as a shadow, Jovan slipped in next to Mateo on the catwalk and perched on the edge, her legs dangling off. Mateo glanced at her before turning back to Ilyes who sat on his other side. A handful of the stagehands had gathered on the catwalk to watch below as they waited for the newcomers to arrive.

"I still don't know why Maeva left," Mateo remarked.

"Same reason why those six other people left ― misconduct," Jovan answered as she rubbed the sleep from her eyes.

It was the day after their break and it had been early in the morning when Monsieur Lefèvre had walked in on the opera staff during breakfast to clarify the reasons why he had fired seven of his employees the morning after their performances had ended. It was not per the Opera Ghost's request but of his own decision, he hadd announced. He had dismissed Sacha Gaudin for obvious reasons, two more stagehands after a ballerina had confessed to having been molested by them, another one for having missed his cues thrice during one of their shows due to being inebriated, a chorus girl for always escaping rehearsals and another for talking back to the maestro, and Maeva Grosjean for bullying a handful of her coworkers.

Upon saying that he now intended to keep a closer eye on the behaviors of his staff, Monsieur Lefèvre made it a point to meet her gaze. Jovan panicked for a second before she realized that the last time she had shown misconduct was when she'd punched that stagehand, about a year ago and a day after Christine had arrived. There was also the incident with Elea and the lamp, which was more recent, but she doubted Monsieur Lefèvre knew about that. While she knew very well that she was practically a charity case and was only residing in the opera house under the good graces of Madame Giry and the manager, she also didn't want to give them a good reason to kick her out. It looked like she had not other choice but to keep a strict reign on her own temper from that moment on.

Jovan was dropped back to the present when she felt Mateo tap her shoulder. Her gaze dropped to the stage below her and she saw Madame Giry enter the scene with seven people trailing behind her, four females and three males.

Pulling a black ribbon from her pocket, Jovan began tying back her hair as the ballet headmistress introduced the newcomers one by one. The first was a a girl of eighteen who was to become the newest chorus girl. Next was a girl of sixteen and then a girl of Christine's age with strawberry blonde hair; both were to be the newest members of the ballet corps.

"Look at that," Mateo said beside her, pointing at the last female, a woman who seemed to be in her late twenties. "She's too old to be a chorus girl."

"No one's too old to be anything," Jovan retorted as Madame Giry introduced the last woman to be the new ballet mistress. Before any questions could be raised, Madame Giry clarified that the woman was to take her place only for the next production. Apparently, the ballet headmistress was going to leave for the next few weeks to attend to the funeral of a relative, and Monsieur Lefèvre had insisted that she might as well take the next few months off as vacation as a reward of sorts for the full house they had on opening night. It helped that Madame Giry had been working in the Opéra Populaire for decades, and the break was much needed and well-deserved.

Jovan wasn't comforted by the explanation Madame Giry offered. It just didn't seem right for someone else to take her place, even if just for a while, and it seemed that Jovan wasn't alone with this. She saw that many of the ballet rats had anxious looks on their faces as the new ballet mistress introduced herself as Madame Lavigne. Apparently, this wasn't her first time to work in the Opéra Populaire, the ballet mistress said as she took center stage.

"With all this misconduct shite going 'round, why's Joseph Buquet still here then?" Calvin, an English stagehand, exclaimed.

"I've not a single idea," Mateo huffed as Madame Giry introduced the three males as the new stagehands below them.

When inquiries erupted as to who was to replace the other chorus girl who was sacked, Madame Giry simply stated that it would not be a newcomer but rather someone from the ballet corps who was to be the replacement.

All the stagehands leaned in closer as the ballet headmistress announced the name of the lucky girl.

"Elea Neveu."

Erik watched from the rafters as the red-haired stagehand dashed down the stairs and ran towards the stage. There, she joined in the small crowd that had gathered around Elea before the stagehand tackled the ballerina in a hug, which Elea gladly accepted with a laugh. Jovan gave a laugh of her own as a smile lit up her features.

At the sight, Erik couldn't help but feel a tug at his heartstrings. He didn't think he'd seen Jovan this happy ever since she arrived in his opera house. She looked ecstatic about her friend's promotion, and it was a while before the two friends untangled themselves from one another. Even then, they were chattering excitedly as the other performers who surrounded them showered Elea with their congratulations.

He let his gaze wander next to the youngest of the newcomers, Hana Vidal, a strawberry blonde who was the newest member of the ballet corps, only a year older when Christine had arrived to the Opéra Populaire. He studied her as she conversed with the younger ballet rats, Christine and Meg included, and noticed the way that her shoulders were always squared and how she held her chin high. She walked about the stage as if she owned the place. From these alone, he could already sense trouble coming from the new girl. He could only hope he was wrong.

But as he watched Meg introduce herself as Antoinette's daughter and how Hana reacted to the revelation with narrowed eyes and a frown for a split second, he couldn't help but feel that he was going to be right.

"Adèle, you're not leaving, aren't you?" Elea asked, worry in her tone, as she entered the room with Jovan only to be greeted with the ballerina who had her things packed.

"Oh, no," Adèle assured them with a bright smile. "I asked Madame Giry if I could move to the next dormitory so I can be nearer Sana, since Audrey was sacked anyway. She agreed so I'm moving out. I hope you don't mind."

"No! Or course not." Elea answered as she proceeded to help the ballerina with her things and they both went out the door, and Jovan watched them go as she sank into her bed. She knew how close Adèle was to Sana and she understood her wanting to move into the vacant bed in Sana's dormitory which Audrey, one of the recently dismissed chorus girls, used to occupy.

The moment the door closed behind Elea and Adèle, it was opened again, and Tess and Christine slipped into the dormitory

"Suzanne Collet and Hana Vidal are going to move in with us," Tess announced to Jovan as she passed by her bed. The redhead recognized the first name belonging to the new chorus girl and the second name to the new ballet rat who was Christine and Meg's age.

As if they had received their cue, the door opened again to reveal two of the newest members of the opera staff. Suzanne, with her ebony black hair, entered first while Hana followed behind her.

Jovan braced herself for what came next; she already saw it coming a mile away.

Suzanne gave a scandalized gasp as her eyes landed on Jovan, drinking in the sight of her shirt, vest, and breeches as she sat on her bed. The redhead resisted the urge to roll her eyes ― this was the exact thing that she had to bear with on her first day working as a stagehand.

"What on earth are you wearing?" Suzanne exclaimed while Hana arched a brow at Jovan, a scowl on the younger ballerina's face. In the background, Tess gave a giggle at their reaction.

"Clothes. Men's clothes, to be exact," Jovan retorted with a shake of her head. She bit back a meaner response, remembering Monsieur Lefèvre's earlier announcement.

"And you're going to be staying in with us?" Hana grimaced.

"No. It's you two who are going to be staying in with us." And with Jovan's reply, Christine joined in laughing with Tess. The two had absolutely no problems with the way Jovan dressed, realizing the practicality of her outfits in her occupation, so they couldn't help but be amused at the newcomers' reaction.

With a smirk playing on her lips, Jovan walked past the aghast Suzanne and the dismayed Hana as she exited the room.

In the darkness, Erik felt a smirk pulling on his lips as he watched Jovan's exchange with the newcomers before the redhead left the dormitory.

He could tell that there were going to be very interesting developments in the months to come.