After Mahtab heard the truth about his parent's relationship, he did not become disgusted or frightened as one would have imagined. No. Mahtab, for a reason, felt some otherworldly calm and peace with himself. He always wished to learn how Papa learned to deal with his disfigurement and wanted to find out if he ever committed any sins because he was not like others. Just as Papa said, with this looks you can't always avoid killing someone. And that is what Mahtab felt mostly as well. Even though he was raised in a normal family and his close environment accepted him as he was, he knew that without his disguise people hated him. Many times he had an occasion to experience endless hatred and disgust towards him, when he wasn't wearing anything to cover his face as a child. This is why Papa and Mama kept him protected and mostly locked up, to prevent such catastrophes, or even bigger ones to happen. Yet he did not find all of the answers to calm him. He felt Papa even more relatable and sympathetic than ever before. He did not know why, but he always tended to love his father way more than Mama, even though Mama was very dear to him as well. Christine was like a beautiful and kind angel to him, but Papa was the one he could talk about anything. But he needed to know one more thing: how did he survive a childhood with his face? What his relationship was like with his parents? He never knew of his grandparents, only one thing was sure: Papa did not like his mother for sure.

Thankfully Erik was all better by the next day. He seemed to be in perfect health compared to his age. He went on and about, doing his everyday tasks which he would not allow for anyone else to do other than him, because whoever did it instead of him, he was never content with the outcome and would always redo it, no matter how well it was done, so others would eventually give up on doing it instead of him. Mahtab knew that Papa did not like to talk about his childhood, but after he got to know about the Phantom story and his father's earlier life, he needed to know this one slice of his past as well to close up the chapter and could be able to settle all his emotions. They had an issue to talk about yet.

Erik was sitting at his desk, writing Mathematical problems for Flo and Noel as a homework, when Mahtab stepped behind his back and slowly walked next to him.

- Papa, may we talk a bit? – He started.

- Mhm. – Erik nodded and lifted his head up. – What is wrong, Mahtab?

Mahtab did not answer right away but sat down in a chair, facing Erik. From this fact the old man knew there was something more serious his son wished to discuss.

- Look Papa, before I start, please promise you won't get angry at Mama or me. Please don't work yourself up, and promise you won't tell Mama I told you she told me what I tell you, but she told me not to tell you that she told me…

- Oh ho, stop. – Erik laughed out. – Son, I am getting old for these kinds of riddles. Who told what to whom?

- Mama told me about your life… and about the Phantom. Papa, I had to know…

- You did. – Erik nodded slowly. – Well… you have the right to know it, Mahtab. It is not that I did not wish to tell you eventually… it was just a bit hard for me to talk about the past I would mostly like to forget and keep it as a secret even from myself. I am happy your mother took the burden off of my shoulders. I guess you are old enough now. And now, what do you wish to talk about?

- Mama did not know enough to tell me much about the life you had with… the same features of me. I am curious of your early life Papa. What was your relationship like with your parents?

- Oh, dear, you are… asking painful questions. Yet I see the reason behind them. Well, you have the right to know this as well, but I have conditions.

- I do whatever you wish me to.

- At first… I am going to tell you my story, but you shall not tell it to the children or Tonton Mohammed or not even Mama. She knows what she needs to know. And you, my child, are the only person who shares my fate. You understand clearly. Maybe I should have told you earlier… so you'd have understood why we kept you so much separated from the world until we found a good way to cover your face. But I always considered you too young to learn such things, and I did not wish you to face the negative side of your appearance- I did not realize that you could never be too young to face reality. As I had a bad childhood, at least, I wanted to spare my own child from hatred and being an outcast. But I could not protect you from everything, and you know exactly what you have to get through with a deformity like ours.

- Papa, you did your best and you are the best father I could ask for. – Mahtab caressed Erik's bony hand with so much affection it nearly sent Erik to tears.

- If you promise, my dear, that it will stay between us, I admit you were always the one I loved the most from among my children. I know a parent should not have a favorite child, but I can't help but have one.

- Really? – Mahtab smiled widely.

- Yes. – Erik nodded.

- Maybe it is because of I look like you?

- No. Definitely not… though… it adds to the whole picture for sure.

- So… what was your childhood like Papa? Did people hurt you a lot?

- Well… it will be easier for me if you don't ask questions. I tell you what I find important, but you listen through it without questions… deal?

- Deal, Papa.

- So… at first, I don't know much of my parent's earlier life. Mother's name was Geneviéve and Father's name was Maurice. All I know of him is he was a contractor. I've never met him. He was much older than my Mother, and… well, I still don't know the truth about this happening. Mother told me different versions of the happenings. There were times she informed me about he died BEFORE my birth. There were times when she told me he collapsed dead when I arrived to the world, as his heart stopped the very moment he saw me.

Mahtab gasped a bit, but did not wish to interrupt Erik, but he felt so much pain upon hearing this variation.

- And the last version I know of is that he abandoned us after he saw my face for the first time. Honestly, son, I don't know which is the best version, but I'd rather believe the first than the two latter, yet those two are more likely. Anyway… contrary to your beliefs I wasn't an only child. I had a sibling.

At this point Erik had to pour himself a glass of wine and he nervously took a sip.

- At first… she was born. She looked beautiful and she was dead as a door nail. Which, of course, did not make me anymore popular in the eyes of my mother. If it is true, I caused two deaths at the moment of my birth, which is exactly two more deaths than I should have caused in a lifetime. Anyway… to answer you, our relationship with Mother wasn't the best. She had depression and used to blame me for everything bad happening in her life, even before my birth. We lived in a nicely furnished house in that village near Rouen, only the three of us… Mother, Bisous and me. Bisous was her lap dog. She… adored it. It was her child instead of me. Well… mostly Mother just ignored me. If I committed something, she hit me, but it hurt me a lot more that she cried so much, and I exactly knew those tears were because of me. No one came to visit us, other than my Uncle I had never met in my life. When he was visiting I was kept in the cellar of the house with just the necessities I needed to survive. Uncle and the other family members thought I did not exist, only the stillborn girl. Mother said she did not have any other children. I was denied, wasn't talked about among the relatives. So… she was ashamed of me. Bisous received all of the love in her heart which she would have shown to her child if it happened to be born like everyone else. One day when I was around 8 years old… I got jealous of Bisous and I could not… get over it. I ended up committing my first murder I wanted to do in my life. I thought Mother will love me if Iwill have no rival.

- Interesting. – Mahtab muttered. – You wanted to do the same with Raoul.

- You know about that as well. Great. – Erik moaned, taking another sip of wine.

- I am sorry Papa. And… what had happened after?

- Mother, of course… wasn't happy about it. I received a beating I will never forget, but her words were much more painful. She called me…

- A crazy murderer?

- Yes. – Erik nodded, softly and brokenly whispering. – She did. This is why I ran away from home.

- Did you run away from home as well?

- Yes… I did. I did not want to cause trouble at home.

Mahtab remembered back the time he thought the same after the scarlet fever he accidentally stuck on Erik. He now understood why Erik wanted to spank him after he returned home. He reminded him of his earlier life and was a fraid Mahtab will disappear forever and end up like him. Erik had another glass of wine then continued:

- Living on the streets for a child under 10 isn't the most comfortable thing on Earth, you know. I had no food and no money and wasn't yet this much experienced as I am now. If that gypsy caravan did not appear after some weeks of wandering, I know I would have died on the fields.

- Did the gypsies hurt you?

- No. They feared me in a way, but did not beat me. I think they did not dare to. Gypsies are very much superstitious, I believe, they thought me some kind of supernatural being. I was too much of an oddity and they liked that I made money for them on markets. I learned to do many tricks, and I could always do ventriloquism. It was actually the best two years I have spent with them. After I turned 10, however, everything changed. People started to frighten each other in the villages we crossed with me. And finally they told the gypsies as well to get rid of me as fast as they could. At first, they did not want to. I was a great way to earn money and people did not dare to attack the caravan for the mere fact I was there. Back then, Mahtab, I knew nothing of how to kill someone, they feared me only for my looks. So, I was, in a way, protecting them. Some of them even said I bring luck to the camp. Of course, when things go right, something must happen. People were telling ominous little tales about the lucky charm might once as well bring extremely bad luck… which had happened. You have to understand, Mahtab, that if people live in a small colony, and if an epidemic starts, and especially if they don't pay enough attention to wash their hands, the illness is going to spread quickly. One day it is only a few people are ill, and in a blink of an eye you see half of the camp with the same symptoms, or dead on the floor. It was an extremely contagious illness going around and I was nearly the only one without noticeable symptoms. This made people think I made the catastrophe and I was immune to it.

- God. And what had happened…?

- I had to flee as they… wanted to choose which the solution at a smaller uneducated group was always: eliminate the source.

- Did they want to kill you?

- Yes, as they hoped it will stop the illness. So I ran away. Later, of course, I got sick as well, it just took the illness a few days before it came out on me. I was wandering alone, but thankfully I only had a bit of fever and some stomach problems I was able to handle. I eventually got better and wandered on the streets yet again.

- And what happened?

- You know, for a time I learned to live on my own. I did pickpocket people or stole food, so I wasn't hungry and I always found a place to sleep. Yes, I started to go down the hill. But I could have been saved if… well, so one day I chose a woman to pickpocket on the streets. I was in Germany, as I was going around Europe, looking at the famous touristic sights and buildings. She caught me, as I, for a reason wasn't careful enough that time, or she just had great reflexes, I don't know. So, she caught my wrist and looked down at me. The expression in her eyes made me ashamed: she wasn't angry, I could see compassion on her face. She was the first person on Earth that actually felt sorry for me. So, she just asked if I was hungry and if I had a place to stay for the night. She did not seem to care about the mask. As it turned out, she was an angel, and the wife of a German smith. They lived in a nice house and the man had a workshop. He was looking for an aid, so his wife was begging him to take me as an aid so they could help me. The man was a bit of frightening to me at first, he did not talk much, and he was eyeing me with a hint of bitterness. As I later found out, they had had a son earlier who died at an early age and the smith was angry at each and every child that survived their son by only a year. Yet I was a great aid. I did everything I was told and I could work instead of two, so he ended up liking me. He even yelled at the people who were mocking me for my mask. They did never want to find out why I wore it. They respected my will not to remove it. I was around twelve years old when I received my name from this couple actually. The poor woman started calling me Erik, after the memory of their dead son.

- Wasn't Erik your original name? - Mahtab gasped.

- I had no name in my childhood. – Erik shook his head. – Erik was the first human name one had ever called me by. I was happy to receive a name finally and this is, among the many aliases I was ever listed under, the first, and my most favorite as it was given to me by love.

- And did they raise you?

- Oh no. – Erik sighed and shook his head. – Even though Herr Schulz received many unkind letters and had to argue with the villagers about the strange masked kid, he was surprisingly protective of me and said "Whoever hurts Erik will receive a tombstone." He was a tall, strong and huge man, as any of the smiths, he was able to lift me by the ear anytime, yet I was strong as well by that time, so they were afraid of him. But… no person lives forever. When I was twelve years old, he died of an illness I wasn't able to cure, yet I was trying. So… he passed away and gave me a watch to keep. This was my inheritance.

- Your watch you still use?

- Yes. – Erik nodded. – This is why I engraved "always exact" in it. The last words I heard from him were "A good technician is always exact."

- I thought it was merely referring to the timeliness of the watch itself.

- Partly, but it has a deeper meaning for me as you see. – He took another sip of wine than sighed deeply.

- And what happened to the woman, Papa?

- Well, I am trying to tell you this… so after the man was buried I stayed alone with the poor woman. She wished me to work in the workshop instead of her husband, but as you might have figured out, villagers weren't too happy taking their horses in a workshop with a strange and too young masked kid in it, no matter how I already had the needed craftsmanship to work on my own. At first it was just we lacked clients. I could earn nothing, and… so we could have nothing to eat really. I wasn't concerned for myself mostly, but the poor woman. I simply could not let her starve, so I did what I had trained myself to do earlier: I stole food for us from around the village. Of course, this did not make people happy. Not enough I was a frightening thing, now I was a thief as well. And of course, every sin has its punishment.

At this point Erik lowered his head as he nearly started crying, but he fought back the urge to do so finally.

- Angry people came at a night and they set the workshop on fire. Everything burnt down no matter how I tried to put out the flames. Of course, it was because of me, and the worst thing is I could not save her.

- Did she…?

- Yes. – Erik nodded.

- In the fire?

- No. – Erik whispered. – They threw stones because she wanted to protect me from them. To tell the truth… we wanted to protect each other. I was wounded… and she was dead.

He closed his eyes and sighed deeply from the bottom of his heart.

- They did it because of my face, Mahtab, and only then I learned I bring misfortune to people. They haven't seen my face even. But I wasn't like them.

- So this is why you told me people might kill me.

- Yes. Or… someone close to us. This is why we need to hide.

- And what had happened after? – Mahtab asked, half sadly, half curiously.

- This is where my childhood ended. – Erik replied monotonously. – You asked about my childhood. I became a man after this. A boy grows up when they take care of themselves all alone without any help. And I wish not to talk about more.

- I understand Papa, I am sorry. – Mahtab hugged him. – But I need to know one more thing.

- Which is…?

- Papa, after knowing how your childhood was, and… knowing that someone with a face like this might most likely suffer a lot… what was your first thought upon seeing me as a baby? – Mahtab muttered in front of himself.

- I was happy for you. – Erik said quickly.

- Papa. Please be honest. – Mahtab put his skeletal hand on his father's shoulder. – Papa, tell me what you felt and when did you start liking me. Did you… wish me dead instead?

- Why do you ask such things, Mahtab? Why do you have to bother the past?

- I have to know. – He begged for an answer.

- At first I felt pity. Ity, guilt and self- loathing. I thought I should have never had a child. – Erik spoke slowly. – You were a few months old by the time I was able to accept the fate awaiting us. But Mahtab, you have to know I don't regret fathering you the least now. I love you no matter what, and since you are in my life I learned to accept my own face better as well. I no more cringe when I look into a mirror, and I never cringed upon seeing your features. I learned to love a face my mother could not. And it was never ugly for me. I am merely worried for the fact that people won't accept you, and sometimes I really fear what will happen to you if I pass away.

- Oh Papa, you won't. – Mahtab kissed Erik's head. – I love you and will make sure to keep you safe.

- Oh, dear. – Erik laughed out. – You do plan to keep me under a glass shield, or what?

- I am going to find out a potion that will keep you alive forever. – He sighed dreamily.

- Oh ho, well, you have an imagination, clearly. – Erik smiled warmly. – Exactly like when you were a toddler. Once you climbed on my lap when you were around three years old, and proudly stated you were going to make it possible for people to fly in the air like birds, because you hated to walk for long.

- I don't remember that. – Mahtab laughed.

- I do. – Erik stroke his child's hair with love. – As I do remember everything you did say or do. You were a cute child. Always in my heels.

Father and son found a perfect harmony between their souls. There were no other questions Mahtab wanted to ask about the past and acceptance. One can't change society, but a father can always grow to love a child- no matter what.