Chapter One

To Serve in the Manner of an Overture, a Few Passages

A/N: originally posted on AO3.

Complete! Even though the fic is finished, if you're finding it now, please still feel free to comment as you read along. I absolutely love hearing readers' reactions.

I am a history nerd, so this is a bit hard for me, but we have to pretend that the Palais Garnier was around in 1832, and Erik with it. So this is not only AU in terms of these novels, but in terms of our own history. There's no other way for me to explore these characters together in the way that I want to. So, if you are willing to indulge me and accept that the Opera Ghost not only really existed, but existed in 1832, then we may begin!

You can certainly skip this first chapter. Especially if you are inclined to skip past the overture when watching a recorded opera or musical. The plot begins in the next chapter. This merely serves to set tone, hint at themes, and help you find your seat in a metaphorical sense. (What does that mean? Don't ask me; I have no idea.)


Never among animals does the creature born to be a dove change into an osprey. That is only seen among men.

- Victor Hugo, Les Miserables

...high above them a great nocturnal bird of prey with burning eyes which glared down at them from the strings of Apollo's lyre.

- Gaston Leroux, The Phantom of the Opera

—●—●—●—●—

"I surely should have known that a young man like you—" She stopped, and leaping over the gloomy transitions that were undoubtedly in her mind, she added with a heartrending smile, "You thought me ugly, didn't you?"

- Victor Hugo, Les Miserables

"As long as you thought me handsome, you could come back to me! I know you would have come back; but now that you know how hideous I am, you will run away for good!"

- Gaston Leroux, The Phantom of the Opera

—●—●—●—●—

He obeyed; she laid her head on Marius's knees, and without looking at him, she said, "Oh! That's so much better! How comfortable this is! That's it! I'm not suffering anymore!"

[...]

"Promise to kiss me on the forehead when I'm dead. I'll feel it."

- Victor Hugo, Les Miserables

"And...and...I...I kissed her! I did! I kissed her! And she did not die of horror! She stayed beside me—as if it were perfectly natural—after I had kissed her like that, on her forehead. Oh, how good it is, Daroga, to kiss someone! You would not understand."

- Gaston Leroux, The Phantom of the Opera

—●—●—●—●—

She bit her lip; she seemed to hesitate, as if going through a kind if interior struggle. At last, she appeared to decide on her course. "Who cares, it makes no difference. You look sad, I want you to be glad. But promise me that you'll laugh, I want to see you laugh."

- Victor Hugo, Les Miserables

"I pressed it into her small hand and said: 'There! Take it! It's for you and the Viscount! It shall be my wedding-present to you, a present from your poor, unhappy Erik. I know you love that young man. Wipe away your tears!'"

- Gaston Leroux, The Phantom of the Opera

—●—●—●—●—

"Oh! I'm happy! We're all going to die!"

- Victor Hugo, Les Miserables

"Almighty God, you have granted me all the happiness a man could ever wish for!"

- Gaston Leroux, The Phantom of the Opera

—●—●—●—●—

...one of those beings who are both frail and horrible, who make people shudder or weep.

[...]

Nothing could be sadder than to see her frolicking and, so to speak, fluttering about the room with the movements of a bird that is startled by the light or has a broken wing. You feel that under other conditions of education and of fate, the gay, free manner of this young girl might have been something sweet and charming.

- Victor Hugo, Les Miserables

Poor, poor unhappy Erik! Should we pity him or should we curse him? He simply longed to be 'someone', someone normal. But his hideous appearance would not allow it! And he had to hide his genius or squander it on tricks, whereas, with an ordinary face, he would have risen to greatness among his fellow-men! He had a big heart, large enough to embrace the entire world; but in the end, he had to confine himself to a dismal cellar. Yes, all in all, the Phantom of the Opera deserves our pity.

- Gaston Leroux, The Phantom of the Opera


A/N: (Bolded words indicate where I got the title from.)

The above quotations are taken from the Fahnestock and MacAfee translation of Les Miserables, and the Ribiére translation of The Phantom of the Opera.

Having read many translations (and multiple times, alas, because I persist in rereading Les Mis a million times instead of accomplishing things with my life) I think my favourite translation might be Christine Donougher's if I had to choose one. However, FMA I felt was a better tonal match. I don't have a favourite translation of Leroux to recommend, alas. I grew up with de Mattos, which I've read at least as many times as I've read Les Mis, and I'm still exploring others which are more complete and accurate.