Disclaimer: I do not own Phantom or any media form he's been in. I do own everything else.
Author's Note: Lol, i'm sorry about the evil cliffhanger but I needed to cut the chapter and I finished at four in the morning so I was dead tired. I know its been a while since i've updated and I apologize for that. I'll try to answer all those nagging questions and anything else that's been bugging you.
Stella italia: I seriously didn't know who Josh Groban was until your review. I went and bought one of his cds and fell in love with the mans voice and he is gorgeous as well. His music perfectly suits Erik without changing the way our dear phantom sings. So thank you for introducing me to Josh's music. I plan on using quiet a bit of his music in this story now.
Agent Alexandra Paris: No worries, I wouldn't be that cruel. But Malcolm is the thing that ties Erik and Ariel together. Their mutual pain.
Nemi Jade: The idea was that you were supposed to feel the way Erik was feeling during the rehearsals. And the answers to all your questions is yes.
Shesshomaru's Angel: Destler is one of the few last names phans and people who do actual research on the subject of phantom think he had. I use Destler because its the one most commonly used.
Tania Nightqueen: Nope, I don't have a beta reader. I just sit up for hours like a zombie in front of my laptop and go through each chapter with a fine tooth comb though I miss some things. As for the quickness of Erik and Ariel's relationship, i'm going to suggest you read the answer I put to the reviewer below.
Mystery Guest: If I ever get the theater to become more then just an idea, I would definitely hire you. And everyone thinks that the actual romance in a POTO fic is too early whether your in the first chapter or the twentieth. He has been sulking in the cellars for two years and suddenly has all this acceptance and a chance at happiness practically tossed in his lap. Believe me the man has had time to get over Christine. Thanks for you wonderful review.
Count Orlok: I'm sorry about the evil cliffie. I hope not to have to do that again. And as for your question about who Simon is, I was talking about Simon from American Idol and I just added Erik's last name.
( Ariel's thoughts) Erik's thoughts> Songs in italics
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Chapter 13: An Angel's Rage
" What right do you have to even step foot in here again!" Ariel continued to scream and raised her fist in the air. Malcolm saw her swing at him but didn't move in time. Luckily Erik's hand closed around Ariel's wrist before it connected with the mans face and twisted it behind her back.
" Let me go!" Ariel yelled and Erik pinned her arms to her side when she started to fight back. She struggled to get at Malcolm and Erik crushed her back to his chest in an attempt to exhaust her anger somewhat. Better she take it out on Erik who knew what to expect from experience, then the unsuspecting fool who stood rooted to the spot in front of her.
" Monsieur, I believe you should leave before even I fail to stop her." Erik said through gritted teeth, his eyes burning into the man as he tried to keep hold of Ariel. Malcolm seem to come around by Erik's words and he stared at the phantom in confusion for a few moments.
" Look i'm..." He started to say.
" Do not make her quarrel with you mine as well by staying sir. Leave or i'll be too happy to release her." Erik practically hissed at the youth. The threat was fueled by Ariel's reaction to the man but mostly by the youth's stupidity. The boy was more like the fop then Darius was. But this time the meaning got through and Malcolm bolted through the backdoor.
Ariel fought and kicked, trying with all her might to get free. When she saw Erik let Malcolm go she doubled her efforts. Her curses were gone and all that was left was a wordless noise that sounded like an animal. Blind furry was burning through her chest and throat like a scolding liquid.
When Erik's arms loosened and finally released her, Ariel mind didn't register who it was when she whirled on him. Her hand connecting with full force on the unmasked side of Erik's face.
A dead silence filled the auditorium. Ariel, who realized what she had just done was holding the offending hand to her mouth to cover a gasp. Erik stood like a statue, a red mark blossoming over his cheek where she had slapped him. His entire body shook with adrenaline and anger which radiated off him in waves.
Ariel took a step toward him, trying to think of how she could mend this. Erik's eyes narrowed as he caught the movement and she stopped. For the first time she was afraid of him.
Anthony sensed what was about to happen and quickly got between the two. " Look Erik, there's a good reason for everything that just happened. You should know better then anyone what can happen when someone you love betrays you."
" Anthony!" Ariel gasped, she didn't want Erik knowing about her own shattered love life. Not now, not ever.
" Move Anthony!" Erik said in a deadpan voice that sent chills down Ariel's spine. His mismatched eyes were cold and she could see the intimidating effect it had on Anthony when he took a step back.
Erik brushed past the actor and grabbed Ariel's upper arm in a vice grip and practically drug her up the apartment stairs.
" You four stay put!" Erik growled at Anthony and the others without turning or stopping and slammed the door behind them.
Ghost sat up and his tail started to wag the moment the two entered. But when the hybrid sensed Erik's anger, even the normally defensive animal's ears flattened against his head.
" Erik your scaring Ghost, your scaring me." Ariel said in a pleading voice. Erik's expression didn't change when he turned back to her and she flinched away.
" What did that man do to you!" He demanded. And she finally sensed where his anger was directed. It was Malcolm. Erik's chest heaved with the anger he was trying to repress, no doubt he was ready to kill the man. His eyes filled with blind anger. A man's fury, an angels rage. ( All he is missing is elegant black wings)
" Malcolm was my fiancé." Ariel said, trying to calm herself down. Her heart was still beating too fast for that to happen.
Erik inhaled sharply and it pained Ariel more then Malcolm's appearance had. " He left me Erik, I haven't seen him for a year." She said quickly. " And I never want to see him again."
Erik was pacing the living room floor and stopped to look at her. " Is that it!" He demanded fiercely and came towards her. Ariel flinched and Erik stopped. His expression and more noticeably his eyes softened. Before Ariel could move Erik pulled her into the circle of his arms.
Ariel shook from a mixture of shock and the feel of his comforting arms around her. They had tried to avoid physical contact since the night Ariel had fallen asleep in Erik's arms. No stolen kisses or feathery touches. She wrapped her arms around his neck and buried her face in the slope of his throat and shoulder, her forehead touching the porcelain of his mask. She gave a sigh of relief and Erik's arms tightened around her in a very possessive way.
" I'm sorry." He whispered in her hair. " I never meant to frighten you." Erik had seen the fear in her eyes. His heart had nearly shattered at the sight. Taking a deep breathe he was reassured by the scent of roses that was Ariel's own, knowing he truly held her in his arms.
" I know so little about your life mon ange." He said with a sigh. " And yet you know so much about mine. Sometimes its overwhelming how lost I feel when you cry inside and I don't know why. Tell me how I can stand aside blindly when I care so much for you?" He asked.
Ariel pulled away enough to look at Erik, her eyes sparkling with such suprise and happiness. It was a dangerous game he played with his heart. Knowing that in ways history might repeat itself. But Christine had never looked at him that way, the hope for love lingering in Ariel's jeweled eyes.
Erik wanted nothing more then to kiss her then. The fleeting memory of two weeks ago that constantly told him to renew it with feeling her lips again. He was about to lose the inner battle and give in when he reminded himself why he had been so cruel to her a moment ago. He looked at her and tried to convey the meaning of his words to her.
" I need to know seraph. I can't protect you from invisible evils." He said soothingly, gently brushing a strand of her red hair from her face. He cherished every jolting sensation that came when he touched her. The immediate feel of her skin warming beneath his hand. And he only wished to protect her as he had said.
Ariel was not afraid of Erik anymore, though the fleeting moment she had was enough to last a lifetime. She never wanted to see him like that again and telling the phantom about her relationship with Malcolm would not help. How was she supposed to repress Erik's anger when she had totally lost her own temper in front of everyone?
She had also been thrown off by his intense concern and the fact that he cared that deeply for her. She chastised herself, realizing he wouldn't have trusted her the way he had if he didn't care about her. And there were the few times they had kissed and held each other to think of as well. Even now his touch was gentle and somehow adoring, making her blush a little.
Ariel took a deep breathe and met Erik's mis matched eyes. " All right."
Chapter 14: Parallel Pasts
Ariel pulled herself away from Erik's embrace, feeling a the warmth leave her immediately and almost went back into his arms. But she needed to distance herself. After a year of going on with life and not thinking of the past, reliving it would break down all the facades she had put up to make Erik think she was normal. ( How marysue of me) She thought with a grim smile.
Erik did not stop her, knowing why the distance was needed. When she smiled he seemed to know her thoughts. She was always so strong, like Erik she did not like appearing weak. Though he had learned years ago that emotions were not a persons weakness, they were a great strength if you could feel and express them. Ariel sat on the couch while Erik remained standing.
" Malcolm went to the same school as me for the last few years of high school." She said, her voice tight as she forced the words from herself. Ghost settled on her lap and she smiled at the hybrid and stroked his head while she spoke as if she gained strength from the animal. " We shared the same interests musicals, singing, writing. We we're both in the drama club, so we went out together. And after high school we ended up falling in love." She wasn't in the present anymore, she was living the memories as she recounted them.
Erik saw the look of happiness cross her face and almost made her stop. With the joy came the pain. He had a feeling he knew how the story ended.
" Malcolm proposed to me on my twenty-first birthday after we finished our degrees in music at college and instead of a ring he gave me the Phantom's Lair Theater." She smiled and Ghost yipped. "Of course, he also gave me Ghost." She said, scratching the dogs head affectionately. "He told me that he was the Opera Ghost of our theater. And that he'd only listen to me and come whenever I called. Malcolm was always a hopeless romantic like me."
Ariel stopped and she let her head fall back on the couch. She took another deep breathe and the smile had disappeared. Erik prepared himself as well for what came next. Ariel felt her heart tear again, just a little but it was enough to set tears to gather at her eyes.
" We decided to take some of my fan fiction scripts and turn them into musicals for the stage. I played Christine and Malcolm would play you Erik." She said looking up at him before turning away again. " He had a beautiful voice, sometimes I thought he really was the phantom. And I felt like Christine, wondering why I had left." She chuckled. " When I started writing the 'other women stories' Malcolm wasn't that happy about them. But when I said i'd always be his leading lady he got over it quickly enough.
" Then we got some news." She scoffed. " Actually it was the same news Anthony and Giselle got. We had been seen at the theater by a talent scout for the Phantom stage production. We were so shocked that anyone that important even came to the theater. Malcolm couldn't wait to join, but me...I wouldn't leave the theater. It was the one thing that I couldn't let go of, even for a huge paycheck and a world tour. Malcolm never understood why I wouldn't leave the theater which he had by that time lost all love for."
Erik knew though. And he felt a distant pain that he would never see the Opera Populaire again in her once splendid glory of the 1800's. Now his opera was more of a shrine to his tragedy, a tragedy that now seemed as long ago to him as to any other person though he'd been there only a month ago. But now Erik felt the same love for the Phantom Lair Theater and belonging amongst the people who frequented it. He would never have asked Ariel to give it up.
" I gave him a choice Erik." She said and he could see the tears escape and run down her flushed cheeks. She gave a mirthless laugh. " Much like the one you gave Christine. Except this time it was stay with me here or go without me to broadway and never come back..." Even with the tears falling she took a ragged breathe to try and calm down. But she lost the battle.
Erik came forward and finally pulled her into his arms again. She obviously hadn't cried yet, not in front of anyone at least. Ariel finally let go of her tears.
" He never came back Erik." She whispered through her tears and Erik felt the familiar pain resurface and he held her tighter. That man will pay if he ever comes back here> But Erik said nothing to Ariel. When her sobs had faded Erik brushed away the remaining tears and kissed her forehead.
" He's gone now." He whispered. " And i'm here mon ange. No more tears."
Ariel smiled and it made Erik's soul lift. " Better." He said and smiled at her. They had taken some invisible step together now. He felt no shame in holding her or feeling the way he did with her. He had every right to be happy and he would make sure Ariel would never know such pain again.
There was a knock on the door and the two were startled, out of habit they jumped apart from each other. Erik chuckled at Ariel's annoyed expression as she glared at the door.
" Hello?" It was Darius on the other side of the door. " We heard the yelling stop a while ago and that either means you two made up or one of you is dead. We just wanted to know which one it was." He said timidly.
Erik smiled at Ariel and then forced his face into an expression one that made more then a few men run in terror from the Opera Ghost. Ariel tried to stifle laughter when Erik's opened the door and Veronica, Darius and the Carter's were faced with the very menacing figure before them.
" Shit, run!" Darius yelped and the four hands went up to the level of their eyes and they started making a beeline for the stage. They only stopped when a rich, deep laughter that was anything but threatening filled the theater. When they looked at the person they had been running from they didn't know what to say.
Erik was laughing and desperately trying to cling to the door frame to support himself. It was a foreign sound from the phantom no one had heard before. And the sight of the Phantom of the Opera gripping his ribs in a fit of laughter was something that would always stay with them.
Darius, who was constantly ruled by his emotions started pounding up the stairs with the intention of throttling Erik. Luckily Veronica and Anthony grabbed the man before he got close enough to put action to idea.
" He is so dead!" Darius said, trying to comically get at Erik who burst into more laughter at the sight. He had never felt so free like this before. Erik was reduced to staring at the ceiling from the floor before his laughter subsided. When he thought freedom had completely filled him, he was proven wrong when Ariel stood over him and smiled. Her red hair falling around her face like a waterfall and an amused smile on her face. "Enjoying yourself?" She asked with a chuckle.
Erik smiled and Ariel was suprised by the serene look on his face as if he had no troubles in his life. She couldn't help being caught up in the giddy mood. She gave a very feminine giggle and quickly leaned down enough that she could brush her lips with his. His eyes flashed at the electric touch.
" Come on monsieur, we still have to find you a doppleganger." She said and Erik got up, a mischievous glint in his eyes. " What?" She asked cautiously.
" We don't need anymore auditions Ariel." He said smoothly and his eyes baited her into asking why. " And why would that be?" She asked. But Erik didn't answer her, instead holding out his hand.
Ariel looked at his hand for a moment, Erik had stopped wearing his gloves some time ago. She felt a case of deja vu, slipping her hand into his. Ariel was immediately led down to the stage, past the others who had managed to calm Darius down and to the table in front of the stage. Erik led Ariel to her chair and suprisingly brought a tape from the pile of papers on the table in front of where he'd been sitting.
Ariel stayed put while Erik went up to the sound booth to speak with Tom, the others joined her back at the table.
" Are you all right?" Giselle asked with concern as she sat beside Ariel and put her hand on the red heads shoulder. Ariel smiled at her friend thankfully. " Yeah, I feel much better. Thanks to Erik." She said softly and Giselle smiled.
" What is the masked man up to ?" Veronica asked, leaning over the table to look at Ariel. She shrugged, Erik walked past her at the same time and up onto the stage.
" Erik what's going on?" Ariel asked. Erik was very serious and had taken on an air that any performer would dub as professional. His shoulders pulled back and his head at a bit of an incline. " I'm auditioning to play myself."
" What!" Five voices said at the same time. But it was obvious that Erik was serious when not even a ghost of a smile passed his lips. " All day i've had to sit through the awful experience of those untrained dullards massacring my music. I see this as the only solution to what may become a serious problem in the near future." Erik said distastefully and the inner circle looked at each other. Darius was just trying to figure out what Erik had just said.
" Erik, did you planned this ahead of time?" Ariel asked suspiciously. Erik gave her a small bow. " It was only if we found ourselves in this very situation." He said. (Smart ass.) She thought with a grin.
" Well there's no reason you can't play yourself Erik. But you really don't have to audition." Ariel said and the others agreed.
" I insist on singing for you to ease any doubts you might have." Erik said insistingly. Ariel nodded. " All right then Erik. Tom go ahead and play the music."
The music came on and Erik began to sing. The moment he did, everyone in the theater was captivated by his voice.
I can't understand it
The search for an answer is met with a darker day
And we've been handed these moments forever
But i'm reassured there's another way.
Erik's eyes met Ariel's as his clear, beautiful voice began the chorus.
You don't have to close your eyes
There is room for love again
Ease the pain to realize all that love can be
Forced apart by time and sand
Take a step and take my hand
And don't let it go
Never let it go.
Ariel wasn't deaf that she didn't realize the words paralleled the happenings of only a few minutes ago. Her heart leapt into her throat at the way Erik held his hand out to her and she almost left her seat to join him onstage. And it was obvious he was singing to her. Ariel was so hypnotized by his voice that even her soul soared without her singing.
(Sand and time. We were separated by that until now.)
Broken, once connected
We were so strong and so blessed in a simple way
So don't let me go it alone
Turn your head up to the sky
Nothing down below but me
Face the truth to realize all that could be
Torn apart by rage and fear
Hold on to what brought you here
Don't let it go
Never let it go
She could hear his soul in the music. A beautiful and pure thing that enveloped her in his familiar warmth. She knew he was singing to her, by the words if not by the way his eyes burned into hers as he sang.
Turn your head up to the sky...
Nothing down below...
When he finished, Ariel sighed. He seemed to radiate the music that he was known for, standing before her was the Phantom of the Opera and she had fallen.
Everyone else seemed to be in some state of shock by Erik's voice. They had over the years tried to figure out what the phantom's voice would be like but it didn't prepare them for this. Giselle and Veronica had reached somewhere near the cloud nine Ariel was on, Anthony had a deep respect for the man and Darius was near throwing himself at Erik's feet.
Ariel cleared her throat, trying to find the ground beneath her feet when she stood. She smiled at Erik. " Well you got the job." She said and Erik gave her a smug look that said ' I know'.
Author's Note: Well? I'm not going to let Erik and Ariel forget about Malcolm. He'll come in later. Pretty soon i'll have to write another musical for this story (rubs temples) which I silently dread. There may be five chapters at the least left to this story before its finished so the end is near. But don't worry there's plenty of goodness left to go.
The song Erik sang was called 'Never Let Go' by my new musical obsession Josh Groban.
Next chapter Erik kicks rehearsals into high gear and Malcolm makes another life threatening visit to Phantom's Lair Theater. Please review everyone.
Oh by the way, my mother gave a suggestion and I want to know your opinion. She says that I should turn 'Blind To It All' into a full play and have a community theater do it. I even know a theater here in Dallas that's already done a Phantom sequel. Please tell me what you think.