The entire town was amazed that the managers stuck around after the fiasco with the chandelier. The managers stuck by the opera that they owned; but whether they stayed because they wanted to or because they couldn't sell it due to the reputation it had, nobody really knew.
They had worked hard, though, raising enough money to replace the shattered chandelier. The cast members tiptoed around the Opera House nervously, not knowing really what was safe to do and what wasn't. There was a fear for the Opera Ghost in almost all of them. Even Socks was subdued sufficiently.
On this night, though, Specs threw a party, celebrating their first year of management of the Opera House, as well as their purchase of a new chandelier. The chorus members were in their element.
Various members of the chorus dotted the large ballroom. Socks, of course, had not shown up yet, and planned on entering fashionably late.
"Hi, Tunes, how are you? Where's Socks?" Hades asked congenially. Tunes looked over at Hades with a half-hearted smile. Of course Hades could be happy and carefree—she still had Mush to hang all over, and was taking full advantage of that right. Tunes, on the other hand, had nobody anymore, and wasn't coping well with that. She turned back to the window she was staring out of and ignored the noise that the orchestra was making as it warmed up.
Hades watched Tunes for a moment, then dragged Mush off to another group of ballet members.
"Hello, girls!" she greeted them enthusiastically.
"Hey, Hades," Martini answered, grinning widely, waving her left hand through the air in a showy manner. Some of the other girls rolled their eyes, but Hades fell for her trick: hook, line, and sinker.
"What's that, Martini?" she asked and grabbed her hand. Martini grinned again and wiggled her fingers.
"My engagement ring," she answered pompously. "Blink-y asked me two days ago."
"So where is your knight in shining armor, Martini?" Aki asked.
"Probably telling his sister or something. How should I know?" Martini shrugged and turned to Hades to tell her all the gory details of his proposal, which the others had already heard.
"Crazy, huh? She's the first to get married in a long time. I hope she knows that she won't be able to dance anymore now," Aki commented to Peppermint, who was passing by.
Peppermint shrugged. "I'm sure she realizes it. She appears to love him enough to give up her dancing." She continued to walk over to where her sister was perched on the stairs.
"Like it took any real convincing to get her to quit dancing," Cats scoffed. "She never really enjoyed it much anyway. I think it was more of a hobby to her."
"Unlike you?" Princess asked sarcastically.
"Shut up, Priss-ess. Oh, excuse me, did I mispronounce your name?" Cats tossed her hair and went back to talking to Aki and Peppermint.
Princess turned to Lotus Blossom and rolled her eyes. "She's being such a bitch. I think I understand how she got her name. She can sure be catty sometimes."
"I still can't believe she tripped you during those auditions. It was very low of her," Lotus Blossom sympathized.
"She knew that I would get it if she didn't. I'm better than she is. Besides, she knew how bad I wanted that part."
Lotte shrugged. "Well, what's done is done. You'll get the next one, right?"
Princess shrugged, being inconsolable at that moment.
Marissa was sitting on the stairs with her chin in her hands. She didn't know what to do with herself now. Everybody seemed to know everything about her relationship with Swifty, and read all sorts of things into it that hadn't existed. She was half-heartedly watching the people who entered the large room.
The room was quickly filling up with the various chorus members and crew members involved with the opera. Holiday and Bumlets sauntered in, completely engrossed in one another for the moment. They were so occupied with one another that they didn't notice that they were walking straight towards Pyro, Illusion and Siscily, who were talking quietly amongst themselves.
"Hey! Watch where you're going!" Illusion protested as the groups collided.
"I'm sorry," Holiday apologized absentmindedly and she and Bumlets continued to walk to wherever their destination was.
"How rude," Illusion scoffed and crossed her arms angrily over her chest.
"I should have lit them on fire," Pyro said sadly. "Damn."
Siscily gasped at Pyro's mention of fire. "You wouldn't!" she breathed. "That would be a horrible thing to do!"
Pyro stared at Siscily for a moment. "Oh, my god, get a life, twink. Of course I would."
Siscily stared for a moment, then her lip began to quiver and she ran off to find someone to comfort her.
"God, will she never get a clue?" Pyro whined.
"I doubt it," Illusion replied dolefully.
Sarah and Jack entered the door at that moment, both grinning quite happily. "I'm so happy, Jack," she whispered. "I love you."
"I love you, too. Look, there's Specs and David. Let's go tell them the good news!" He started to pull her towards them, but she hesitated.
"No, Jack, not yet. Let's keep it a secret for now." She looked up at him pleadingly, her hand raising instinctively to the ring which was on a chain around her neck.
"Why a secret? What have we got to hide from anyone?"
"Please, Jack. We'll tell them when the time is right. Just not right now. Please, don't start a fight." She bit her lip nervously.
"And when will the right time be? Sarah, you're free! What is it you're afraid of?" He looked exasperated.
"You'll understand soon enough," Sarah comforted him.
"I sure hope so," he sighed.
The orchestra began right then to play an upbeat tune, and many couples made their way to the floor to dance to it. Sarah and Jack followed.
As she had planned, Socks arrived fashionably late. She created quite a scene as she and Skittery burst through the doors to the ballroom. She was beaming, knowing full well that she had the lead role secured for the next show.
She smiled smugly at everyone as many of the chorus members started to crowd around her. The orchestra stopped playing as there was a commotion and people were leaving the dance floor quickly. That wasn't supposed to happen. Socks was pleased at the disruption she'd managed to cause in the large room. Before long, though, order was restored once again, and the orchestra began again. Several couples wandered to the floor and began their dancing once more. Around the dance floor, though, the chatter and drama hadn't stopped. The brief distraction of Socks's entrance didn't lessen it one bit.
Having long since recovered from her shock at Pyro, Siscily had returned to her friends, and was happily chattering to them.
"And they way it's the newest fashion straight from Paris," she concluded. Pyro, Aki, and Princess were staring blankly at her. She had just finished a 15-minute spiel about the fashions she saw when shopping that week.
She flashed them a big, contented smile, then sauntered off to inform someone else of her many revelations regarding fashion.
Princess just stared as the girl walked away.
"Can I light her on fire?" Pyro asked carefully. "Anyone who goes on like that about clothes for that long deserves it."
Aki nodded. "I can't help but agree with you there," she admitted quietly. She turned to Princess. "Have you talked to Marissa at all lately?"
Princess shook her head. "No, I haven't. And, as far as I know, neither has anyone else. She won't talk to her sister, even." She paused. "But then, when did Marissa ever tell Peppermint anything?"
Aki shrugged and nodded once more as Lotus Blossom approached them. "Hello, again, ladies," she greeted them, grinning happily.
Princess raised an eyebrow. "What's made you so happy?" she asked.
"Does there have to be something? Can't I just be happy to see my friends?" Lotte protested, still grinning, a mischievous twinkle in her eyes.
"Yes, there does. Spill," Aki told her with a grin as Pyro wandered off elsewhere to find some entertainment. She passed by Marissa, sitting by a window, disconsolately staring out of it. She started to approach the girl, but something about the pensive look on the girl's face made her think against conversation and she moved on.
Indeed, Marissa was a little perturbed at being there at all. She knew she should be there, especially if she expected to keep her job, but seeing all of the happy people around her, seemingly oblivious to her pain. Nobody understood it. Everyone had made up his or her mind about what her relationship with Swifty. Not one person had actually asked her about it. Not one. She felt that immensely. Granted, it had been over a year since the event had happened, but she and Swifty had had a different kind of relationship than the others in the chorus were prone to having. But, at the moment, all Marissa knew was that she was having a terrible time, while, she was certain, everyone else in the chorus were having a marvelous time discussing her tragedy.
Tunes, on the other hand, was not thinking about other people at all. She, too, had been dragged there by her sister, but it made very little difference to her where she was. She had too much on her mind to think about the frivolities of those around her.
Why did it happen? I mean, what did he do to offend the Ghost … or the Phantom … or whatever he is. God, I miss him so much. I don't know how Marissa was so calm for so long. My life will never be the same again. I'll never love anyone again, either. Socks says that I will, but I know I won't. I'll always love Racetrack. I mean, I'm certain we were going to get married. Wouldn't we have been the envy of everyone, then? I guess it doesn't matter now. My life is ruined forever. I'll never get married; I'll never have children. I'm destined to be an old maid. And I'll be forgotten. They'll never give me the lead dancing roles now. Not after I missed a month of rehearsals. Socks can do it all she goddamn wants to, but no, not me. I can't do it. I'm not Socks. She's the diva, and I'm just her sister. I'm certain that they wouldn't have me back if it weren't for her. I wish I could be immensely talented at something, like Socks is, and RiffRaff, and, hell, Sarah. Then, maybe, I'd get some recognition around here. God, even Race got more recognition than me.
She slunk back into her chair sullenly. God, I miss him, she thought once again, and her train of thought continued along that line. Perhaps she was right about some parts of that statement; perhaps not. Whether she was or not, not one person would know how miserable she was, because she wouldn't tell them.
There were, in fact, many people unaware of the internal anguish from which these two girls were suffering. Ironically, these people were the managers of the Opera. Specs and David sat at a table in the corner chatting amiably with one another, as well as with Stress and Sunset, and with Moe and Autumn.
"What a night," Moe commented happily. "You got quite a crowd to come this evening. I think all the patrons are here. Of course, Jack Kelly is here, as expected, but it seems the rest felt it fit to attend as well."
"Yes, I made a lot of calls and a lot of visits, but I got most all of them here. All but Mr. Bagley, who's rather too old to be attending dances, anyway," Specs informed Moe, proudly. After the disaster that befell Spadey, they hastened to beg Moe to return to the opera, noting to themselves that Spadey was not as talented as some had proclaimed she was.
David nodded. "And it's been nearly six months without a single accident, or even a trace of the Phantom. On top of that, we've got a brand new chandelier. It looks marvelous in the hall, too."
"Well, I can hardly wait to see it," Moe told them, mustering up more enthusiasm than she truly felt. Whoo. A chandelier. Very exciting.
"Oh, Mother, it's so beautiful!" Autumn gushed. She truly was very excited about it. "It's got at least a hundred lights on it, and—" There was loud shrieking from those nearest the stairway, causing the orchestra to stop, as all attention was drawn to the sleek form descending. The figure was a male one, dressed all in black, with a mask covering his face. The mask looked like a blood red skeleton placed against a black head covering. It didn't take long for everyone, especially Sarah, to figure out that the man was indeed none other than the Phantom himself.
He made his way down the stairs until he was in the center of the room.
"Why so silent?" he chided, looking to the table where the managers sat, looking particularly fearful. "Did you think I'd left for good?" He made his way closer to the table. Sarah clung to Jack and tried to inch behind him.
"Have you missed me?" the Phantom continued. Upon receiving no answer, he stood directly in front of the table. "Here, I have written an opera for you." He dropped the manuscript onto the table. "Don Juan Triumphant." He looked from one manager to the other, and then stalked over to Sarah. "You will sing for me. You still belong to me!" He reached out and grabbed the chain around her neck and broke it, taking it and turning from her. "I advise you to comply, gentleman. My instructions are very clear-cut. You must remember that there are worse things than a shattered chandelier." With that, he turned and disappeared into his cloak as a cloud of dark red smoke evaded the room. Sarah stood staring, her eyes very wide.
Nobody was much in the mood to continue the merriment after that. Granted, nothing that had occurred in this evening had compared to the two previous tragedies, but something about the Phantom's appearance had killed the mood of the gala.
