Disclaimer: I don not own Phantom of the Opera. I just own everything else.
lovelyreviewerperson: I never made Malcolm as a hate character. Erik was faced with so many in his past life that I didn't want him to deal with anymore in his new one. Malcolm is not a reincarnation of Raoul. He's just a normal guy who's trying to make what he did wrong right again. Thanks for the great review and don't worry Erik will react more after this chapter. The men need a little chat first.
Cold Fate: But that would be too easy. Just wait and see he has a purpose.
Hellcat The Wicked: : bows: Will do Madame. : sings: I just do to please.
Lioness-Rampant: No worries, that person in particular will not be making any cameos I promise.
Eilinau: You Raise Me Up sounds perfect. Especially if you've seen the music video for it. Its Josh Groban and the entire cast of theater rehearsing for a play. It's also awesome because Josh wakes up on a couch in the video's beginning, it was funny since Erik is still sleeping on Ariel's couch.
Agent Alexandra Paris: Thank you, i'm glad you like my little plot twist.
musicgirl141: That is such a wonderful compliment, thank you! You don't know how much that means to me.
Count Orlok: Just pleased that I still hold your interest monsieur.
Author's Note: One more 'let me explain' chapter to go and i'll start flowing again. So bear with me and i'll dish out more the humor and things you guys enjoy so much soon. The first part is mostly told in Malcolm's point of view since I hate giving the stereotype Erik reaction in these kinds of scenes. We'll get a lot of Erik reactions in the next chapter.
Songs and character thoughts in italics
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Chapter 16: Lucky To Be Alive
" Speak now or forever hold your peace monsieur." Erik said in a cold, low voice. Malcolm new full well what he meant by those words, and decided he better start talking.
" I get by your reaction that you already know about me and Ariel." Malcolm said with a nervous laugh and made sure to put some space between him and Erik. " So ah...no need to talk about that."
Malcolm knew he sounded like an idiot and he wasn't. But Anthony had met up with Malcolm after the rather dangerous audition and told him just who Ariel was in a relationship with. It had taken some convincing and Malcolm had come mostly to make sure Ariel wasn't being tricked, though he knew deep inside that his ex's welfare was no longer his responsibility. Upon Erik's rather hostile greeting there was no doubts in Malcolm's mind that Ariel had what she wanted in the end.
Malcolm sighed and straightened, he still played this man on the stage and he wouldn't let it seem that he was unworthy of that privilege. It was said that to play the phantom the actor had to have a part of the phantom in them already. The pain, the fear, the willingness to give up what they loved the most even if it meant their own end. Malcolm had not lived up to his image. When he thought there was something better he'd left the one person he loved the most behind. For what? For a stage that was cold without her presence beside him, and a guilty tug at his heart every time his kissed his costar on stage every night.
" I know i'm not welcome here. And you have every reason to hate me." Malcolm said, his voice serious and controlled. " I'm not here to make things hard for the both of you. Quiet the opposite actually, i'm here to wish you well." Malcolm said with a tired smirk.
Erik had been expecting anything but that. His intimidating mask dissolved into a look of shock.
Malcolm waited but Erik said nothing in response. He was suprised as well. I thought this man had a come back for everything. That was not the case obviously. Malcolm realized he was basing his judgment off the stereotype of the phantom, he had to remember that it was a flesh and blood man he was talking to.
" I'm guessing you expected me to storm in here and demand that ' you leave my girl alone and that you didn't deserve her.' " Malcolm said with his best impression of Raoul, overly dramatic and everything. When Erik gave a mute nod Malcolm's jaw dropped.
" Did you have me tossed in the same category as that ditzy blond the moment you saw me?" Malcolm asked aghast and was answered with another nod. " I am nothing like that air head. Would I be playing you onstage if I was anything like Raoul de Changy seriously."
At the Viconte's name Erik's eyes regained their glassy fire and he glared at Malcolm. " Just because you are not that useless fop does not mean you didn't hurt Ariel. For gods sake, you chose your career over love? Do you have any idea what she has gone through since you left?" Erik said with disgust.
" And don't you think i've been beating myself up about what I did ever since?" Malcolm snapped back in his own defense. Erik's eyes flashed. "Obviously not enough, would you like me to help you!" He seethed. " No thanks, I want to see tomorrow." Malcolm spat back.
Erik and Malcolm silently glared daggers at each other for a few minutes. Until Malcolm snapped himself out of this childish name calling. " Enough! I came here to build new bridges not burn them to the ground." Malcolm said, straightening his posture again to show he was going to be a man about this.
Erik on the other hand was not satisfied with Malcolm's noble words. " And what did you expect to achieve by coming here? Enlighten me if you would." He said in a measured tone that emitted danger.
" I wasn't sure." Malcolm admitted. " Look, I made a stupid mistake a year ago and no amount of apologizing or groveling will make it better. I loved her then and I still love her now but people don't always see the error of their ways until its too late." Malcolm stopped. " I proved I was the biggest offender in that class of idiots. And it is definitely too late for me. But at least she has you now."
Erik started at that. He listened to the man confess his sins against Ariel. But what he said last was so strange. He did not completely grasp Malcolm's meaning.
" What do you mean at least Ariel has me now?" Erik asked carefully and after a moment a sly smile appeared on Malcolm's face that the phantom was not fond of.
" That woman could stop an army with a smile and charm an angel with her laugh. Can you honestly tell me that you, amongst all the people that have come in contact with her are completely immune to the net she unconsciously throws over everyone? You would have to be the most cold hearted bastard that ever walked the earth to do that and in time she'd still find a way to your heart." Malcolm said fondly and watched Erik's face. When after a short silence Erik raised a questioning eyebrow Malcolm sighed. Why do I even try to sound civilized?
" All I want to know is do you love her? Because I can't leave this theater behind for good without knowing if Ariel has someone who won't make the same mistakes I did. I need to know someone will love her the way she deserves." Malcolm let the words hang in the air. He needed to know before he could walk out of Ariel's life forever, she had to be happy before he left.
Erik didn't speak. Inside his mind was screaming at his heart. Wondering why he hadn't put two and two together? What did you think all the things you've been feeling when your around her were? Disorientation? Erik scoffed. He'd felt disoriented since the night he'd first seen Ariel on the roof, and he hadn't been able to regain his footing yet. Erik knew exactly what he felt for Ariel but he had refused to voice it. Even after two years, in the deep recesses of his soul he feared rejection. But the way she looks at me. How could he fear rejection when those jeweled eyes sparkled whenever they met his?
" You can be assured monsieur that your leaving Ariel to someone who will protect her even at the expense of his own life." Erik said the words with such conviction that Malcolm didn't think to doubt the man at all.
" That's all I needed to hear. I hope you two are happy together. She's a chance to make your dreams come true Erik." Malcolm said and then for some reason he chuckled as if he'd told a funny joke. Erik gave him a questioning look.
" There's a song I know called ' She Used To Be Mine ' and it explains our situation perfectly. If you ever have a chance to hear it you'd laugh as well." Malcolm said and made his way to the door.
" I'll leave the affairs of the Phantom's Lair Theater in your capable hands Erik." He said and Malcolm Amos was gone.
After Malcolm had left, Erik decided to forgo the sleep Veronica had threatened him with and went to compose. He told himself it would only be a few hours. Erik was so close to the ending now there was only a few things to do before it was finished. Ariel's smiling face swam in his head the entire time and he smiled as well. What was supposed to be a few hours turned into four and before Erik could make it upstairs he fell asleep at the piano.
-10:30 p.m.
Ariel winced when the backdoor opened with a small squeak that sounded like church bells in her ears. I'm reduced to sneaking into my own theater. Ariel thought as she poked her head in to make sure the coast was clear. Everyone had left hours ago and the theater had taken on the sound that signaled the absence of human life. A sound Ariel had become accustomed to and felt comfort in whenever she had the chance to enjoy it.
But the theater was not devoid of life. Ariel knew there was at least one person that inhabited the backstage with her now when all the lights were out and the crowds were gone. She took more comfort in that thought then the rare and blessed silence. And with the revelation that beat in her heart, her steps were lighter then usual and couldn't be heard by even a mouse if it were listening.
Where was Erik? Ariel was sure he had heard the door. Maybe he was playing possum again like the night she rushed back from the bar to see him. She was about to creep upstairs when she instead glanced at the stage and saw Erik's sleeping figure hunched over the piano. Ariel groaned. " Oh Erik, not again." She said with more affection in her voice then annoyance and made her way quietly to his side.
Before he'd lost consciousness, Erik had managed to shut the piano so his face rested on the wood cover that protected the keys. The left side of his face was turned up to Ariel's vision and for a second she was taken aback for who she thought was a normal man. The way he was laying hid the stark white mask from view and only exposed the side that was unblemished. His black hair had fallen onto his face and Ariel smiled as she gently brushed it away so as not to wake him.
Last week Ariel had managed to get Erik into some semi-normal clothes. He now wore modern dress slacks and white dress shirts instead of his tailored suit. Erik refused to give up his cape though and would often wear it during rehearsals. Of course he still wore his suite during each performance. But the rest of the time Erik was dressed like any theater producer would be besides his mask. And through all this he still maintained his old world charm and mysterious allure.
Something on the piano caught her eye and Ariel focused on the large stack of paper there. Curious, she started to read the first page and gasped. Quickly she leafed through the page, seeing familiar words, situations and events on every page. It was the musical Erik was writing, the one he rehearsed with the cast while she was escorted around town. It documented the time from when Erik first claimed to have heard Ariel's voice in the 1800's to the end of the day. Ariel nearly cried as she read the way Erik described everything, she couldn't have done it better. The characters not only included herself and Erik but everyone in the theater that had played a role in his introduction to the twenty-first century. Darius, Veronica, Anthony and Giselle played large roles in the musical and Ariel knew why. They had silently been pushing Erik and Ariel along though they had both known what the four were up to from the start.
Nothing shocked Ariel as much as when she read the last scene Erik had written in the manuscript. It was a scene between him and Malcolm. More tears came with what Malcolm said about her to Erik, but it was the question Malcolm posed to Erik in the end of the confrontation and more importantly the phantom's answer that sent her heart racing. Do you love her? It wasn't the same thing, but closely akin to what Meg had asked Ariel that afternoon. Erik hadn't technically said yes but it was enough for Ariel to know that he did.
She stared at the sleeping man and her heart did a flip-flop in her chest. He loved her. It was enough that she could have danced and shouted for hours without end. But she stayed quiet and simply watched Erik as his breathe came and left his body evenly. With a loving smile, Ariel turned back to the manuscript and used a few blank sheets to write a new scene for the musical. A moment like this would not be left out of their story. Ariel's pen paused on the paper, their story. To say that, even if it wasn't out loud felt so good to her. These were the moments when song wanted to burst out of her with all the force she pocessed, but she restrained the urge to sing and instead wrote down the song that she thought best suited how she was feeling right now.
Ariel yawned after she finished and managed a weary smile when she saw that Erik was still sleeping. She went upstairs to make sure Ghost was fed and good for the night. Then she gathered some blankets and pillows and went back down to Erik. She gently draped on the blankets over his shoulders.
Ariel took the risk of waking him by kissing his cheek. When he didn't wake she felt a slight disappointment but brushed it aside. She laid out the other blankets and pillow she brought on the floor beside the piano bench and made herself comfortable in the downy nest. Ariel watched Erik sleep until her eyelids closed as well. Tomorrow would be interesting.
" I love you Erik." Ariel whispered before she let sleep lay claim to her. And Erik smiled in his sleep at what he thought was the wonderful echo of a dream.
Author's Note: Well, what do you think? I'm not going to say a lot about this chapter i'll just wait for everyone's opinion. Malcolm's a good guy so you'll all have to deal with that. Sorry. I love Malcolm's way of speaking. He can spout poetry about Ariel and start sounding like Keanu Reeves form 'Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure' the next.
I'm going to wait a few days before updating again because i'm getting burnt out again. I can't stay up till three in the morning to get these chapters finished anymore, so i'm taking a few days break. So don't worry I won't abandon you. Now you guys know what the musicals about and now I have to start writing it. I hope you remember the song Malcolm talked about its in the musical. If you anybody has any song ideas for the musical i'd love to hear about them. Please review, i'll be waiting to hear from everyone.
Next Chapter: Our favorite duo finds Ariel and Erik asleep on the stage and the two sleepy composers have to face each other in the morning. And Erik finds out that Ariel loves him too. Yeah, more fluff and more humor! All the hard explaining stuff is done!
Chapter 11 Preview:
" Do you think we should wake them up?" Darius asked looking at the two sleeping figures on the stage. Erik sleeping at the piano and Ariel sleeping close to his feet in a flurry of blankets.
" Maybe we can play the overture for Phantom of the Opera, that can wake anybody from a deep sleep if we put it on the sound system." Veronica said thoughtfully with her arms folded across her chest.