Disclaimer: NOOOO! –breaks down into fit of sobs—NEVER EVER will I own PotO! SO STOP TORTURING ME WITH THIS ABSURD DEMAND FOR DISCLAIMERS TO STOP ME FROM TAKING WHAT SHOULD RIGHTFULLY BE MINE!
Ahhh, much better. It's better to let it all out instead of bottling it all in, eh?
OK, ATTENTION EVERYONE! THIS IS A REPOST OF CH 5! NOT MUCH FLUFF THIS CHAPTER! Sorry, but, CHRISTINE AND ERIK NEED TO BE FRIENDS FIRST! And remember, Christine DOES have a boyfriend…who shall be showing up in the near future….mwahahaha….but he's DEFINITELY NO RAOUL! I couldn't bear to inflict the foppiness on her current love interest---it would be much too cruel.
Now, my responses to your wonderful reviews!
BobMcBobBob1: I know I know---but I've RE-written this chapter now, so, ya. It's a WHOLE lot better than last time. And I haven't gotten my check yet.
Drat it all!
LiTTleLoTTe91: You. Are. Going. WHERE! Darn you! AGAIN? –pouts- Hope ya like this chapter! Hey, you said you were going from Wednesday to Tuesday—Mardi Gras is on a Tuesday…that's odd….you'd be leaving ON Fat Tuesday…or will you leave on Ash Wednesday?
ShadowFairy101: Ah, I see. I didn't get the first review you sent me---I got the dreadfully short one. I was a bit miffed, though. I like long reviews.
Especially ones that say the magic 'U' word ALL the way down the page!
Elvin Scarf: I am so glad that you still love my precious ficcy! Ya—I want it to be humorous, not supernatural anymore. But SERIOUS---I haven't done a very serious fic…unless you count my current one-shot "In the Autumn Twilight"…but I doubt that will stay a one shot for much longer…
MooMoo-Sama: Hai, yes…age conflict…Dude, Christine's dad would go ballistic! Hahaha, especially when—oops--- IF he finds out that the daughter he's intent on protecting from the monster actually has fallen in love with him. But that'll be a long time in coming. I think I made my first post of Ch 5 too fluffy for my tastes. Well, anyway, douzo!
It should be like…GEORGE AND ALANNA! That was my inspiration for this fic, really. I adore the couple---Jon was fantastic, but I REALLY couldn't see Alanna with HIM! Could you? Sadly, I cannot find it in my heart to bash Jonathan---but I can most definitely loathe Raoul to my heart's content.
The fop needs to die. Well, he DID---a long time ago.
Darn it.
Maska: Thanks…I decided to take the Author's note at the end of the chapter down, because I didn't know if I would get flamed for my religious views or something completely idiotic like that. No, I didn't think you were rude at all!
I totally agree---I think I went overboard on Stalker! Erik. He's still not gonna be shown in this chapter, though.
I'm evil like that.
Madame Opera Ghost: YOU HAVE THE COOLEST NAME! Wish I'd thought of that when I signed up. AND YES! Thank you so much for the BRILLIANT idea about the costume! I shall most definitely use it, with your permission, of course. PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE?
She'll be wearing it, no doubt about it!
As for your other questions….you shall have to read and –mystical airy voice--all will be revealed…I SEE ALL WITH MY INNER EYE!
:Ahem: OK—my Trelawney half has gone back up to her North Tower once again.
Alianne
Last time:
The Scherzo came to an end, trailing off into nothing as she breathed heavily, perspiration shining on her forehead and trickling down her temple. Christine ran a hand through her slightly damp bangs and grinned stupidly, impressed with herself.
"I guess I didn't lose much since the move. After all, it has been almost five months since I last played the piano."
She giggled and sighed contentedly, closing her eyes.
"Brava, brava, bravissima…" a voice whispered all around her.
The redhead bolted straight up off the piano bench when she heard the voice.
"Who's there?" she asked to the recital hall, not being able to tell where the fantastic voice was coming from, but somehow she knew this voice…
She was sure she'd heard it before, but where?
Here eyes traveled across the room, straining to catch sight of her seemingly invisible audience.
The stark white walls of the recital halls glared at her, little specks of dust dancing in the beam of light shining down from the many skylights. The stage was of a light colored polished oak, and the seats were quite uncomfortable plastic grey ones. She knew all too well what those seats felt like—advanced choir on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays was a testament to that fact.
Christine sighed.
"Christine…" the voice came again,
Her face brightened considerably as she finally recognized the voice's owner.
"Erik?" the redhead called out to the room. She couldn't believe it was him, why would he be here, of all places? But the voice was his, she was sure of it.
But she was rewarded with absolute deafening silence.
"Darn. Did I dream the whole thing up? I think there are too many dust specks floating around in here," she murmured to herself, settling back down onto the piano bench.
"You are not dreaming, little lioness." The voice came again, filling her ears with music, lilting, mesmerizing…
"Yes I am, Erik," Christine replied absently, warming her fingers up again, the scales steadily going higher and higher before coming back down again rapidly. She didn't seem to notice that she was holding a conversation as she played the piano.
Erik chuckled softly from the shadows near the back of the auditorium. That girl was so strange, he thought to himself. Random, unsystematic, peculiar, eccentric, fierce, hot-headed, the list really could go on for eternity.
Christine began to hum gently as her fingers danced in a quiet Chopin prelude. She closed her eyes, the dust motes from the beams of sunlight shone, making her hair blaze as she played.
A vision of a man clad in an impeccable evening suit and white half mask suddenly appeared in her mind and she grinned, flowing from the Chopin prelude to Angel of Music like she had been playing the second song the whole time.
Erik watched the freshman girl play the song his angel used to sing to him all those years ago. His jaw clenched tightly as the memories flooded through his mind's eye in a rush.
Christine in her dressing room after her first performance as the new prima donna in Hannibal. Christine singing with the Vicomte de Chagny on the roof of the Opera Populaire. Christine ripping his mask off, and her look of horror when she saw his face.
Christine...fleeing in the boat with her lover the Vicomte after Don Juan…
"Christine…" he whispered, his voice full of the pain and sorrow and longing that he had not felt since…since she left.
The redhead at the piano had begun to sing as he relived his past, her voice filling every corner of the room, but still so quiet and soft he had to strain his ears to hear it.
She sang Meg Giry's part first, trying to imagine the exact moment that that scene took place in the movie.
Christine…
Christine…
The girl at the piano broke off and sung the Phantom's part ever so softly.
Christine…
She came back to Meg's part and resumed playing the piano.
Where in the world
Have you been hiding?
Really you were
Perfect!
I only wish
I knew your secret!
Who is your great tutor?
Christine played the little interlude before Mlle. Daae's line and began to sing again.
Father once spoke of an angel…
I used to dream he'd appear…
Now as I sing I can sense him…
And I know…he's…here!
Here in this room
He calls me softly
Somewhere inside,
Hiding!
Somehow I know
He's always with me
Hear the unseen genius!
Erik listened intently to the redhead as she played and sang. Her voice was not forced out of her throat like other girls'; instead, it came straight from her diaphragm. It was clear, not the least bit nasally. He could tell she had been well trained…and by the sound of it, by a stocky Bulgarian woman who liked peanut butter a little too much.
Christine Daae's voice had been almost identical to this girl's; he would remember his protégée's voice anywhere. It constantly resounded in his mind, not giving him any rest for the first fifty years of his newfound immortal life.
Damn gypsies.
Meg's Part:
Christine you must have been dreaming…
Stories like this can't come true!
Christine you're talking in riddles,
And it's not…like…you!
Christine's voice grew louder as she sang the higher notes, reveling in the pleasure of hearing her voice bounce off the high walls of the recital hall, her fingers pounding away at the piano, making her sing even louder so she could hear herself over the accompaniment.
Angel of Music
Guide and guardian!
Grant to me your
Glory!
Angel of Music
Hide no longer
Come to me strange
Angel!
She left off there, not wanting to continue, as it was the duet between Meg and Christine, and you can't sing two parts at once, she thought aloud.
"Quite right," the voice came again.
"Dear God, I'm hallucinating, hearing things! That is NOT, I repeat NOT the Phantom of the Opera talking to me right after I finished one of his signature songs!" Christine cried, getting up from the piano.
She stopped.
"Or is it?" Her eyes widened comically and she shook her head wildly. "Eh, no way, no way no way no WAY. Yes way? Nooo? ….Yes? Yes! No! No, no, no, no, no! " She started pacing across the stage, almost having a full conversation with herself.
Erik watched in amusement. This girl was…well, he'd think of something later on.
When she whirled around and still paced across the stage muttering to herself, he couldn't suppress the chuckle that had been threatening to escape.
Christine's head snapped up. She knew that chuckle!
"Erik?" she called again, searching the shadows enshrouding the last few rows of seats in the back of the auditorium.
Darn it. She couldn't see him.
Darn it all.
She had thought about him a lot today…but she already had a boyfriend! She wasn't thinking of Erik in…you know…that kind of way. He just looked uncannily like Erik, the Phantom of the Opera, that's all.
I mean, duh! He DOES have a white half mask, his eyes are golden, and he's super handsome on the side that's uncovered…OH MY GOD! He's like Gerard Butler in the Phantom of the Opera movie's twin! He IS Erik! A voice said in her head.
Whoa. Now, what makes you think THAT, Christine? Came another voice.
Do I honestly have to answer that? The first voice replied.
Christine broke out of her little trance-like state and looked around the room to see if her friend was still there.
"Erik?" she called.
No answer.
Erik just sat still in the shadows, wanting to see what she would do next.
Christine shrugged after calling him again, walked over to the piano, but gave a gasp and ran off to the stage wings.
Erik started to get up from his fairly UN-comfortable plastic chair, but sat right back down again when Christine reappeared, twirling around onstage in a long dark maroon skirt and white peasant off-the-shoulder top. The corset was a dark black, her copper locks cascading down her back. Her skin was so creamy…her green eyes seemed even brighter than usual, and her cheeks had a rosy tinge to them as she spun around and around humming and singing smatters of Point of No Return and Masquerade.
Wait.
He knew that dress.
It was HIS Christine's costume from HIS opera Don Juan Triumphant! How did she…ah. The movie…he hadn't seen that either. Now he had to watch the pitiful musical AND the pitiful movie.
Pity.
How he loathed the word.
It was quite pitiful how he loathed the word.
Christine stopped dancing with her invisible partner and started stalking towards the middle of the stage, trying to mimic the Phantom's scene during Don Juan.
Passarino…
Go away for the trap is set
And he waits for his prey!
You have come here…
In pursuit of your deepest urge…
In pursuit of that wish
Which 'til now
Has been silent…
Silent…
I have brought you
That our passions may fuse and merge!
In your mind
You've already succumbed to me
Dropped all defenses
Completely succumbed to me…
Now you are here with me…
No second thoughts…
You've decided…
Decided…
Past the point of no return!
No backward glances!
Our games of make believe
Are at an end!
What raging fires shall flood the soul?
What rich desire unlocks its door?
What sweet seduction lies before…usss…
Christine glanced down at her wristwatch and decided she had enough time to sing Christine's part and be able to undress and escape the music building without being noticed. She gave a lopsided grin and began singing Christine Daae's part.
You have brought me..
To that moment when words run dry.
To that moment when speech disappears
Into silence…
Silence…
I have come here
Hardly knowing the reason why!
In my mind I've already imagined
Our bodies entwining—Christine always blushed furiously whenever she came to this part of the song.
Her cheeks burned red and she fled the stage again. What if HE had been watching? That wasn't the kind of song she would EVER sing in front of ANYone, especially to its supposed composer.
Heck, she wouldn't sing it in front of Stephen! Well…maybe not. He liked it when she sang. He would always sit quietly with her when she ranted on and on about the Phantom of the Opera, sometimes interjecting with bouts of sarcasm and wit.
Christine knew she loved her best friend in the whole world more than anything. Yes, she loved her parents, but this was much different.
She knew that Stephen probably had a really hectic schedule, with his guitar lessons and school and basketball and such. He probably didn't have the time to get online.
Christine was ashamed that she had EVER thought he would have abandoned her. What if he thought that she would leave him?
She was horrified at the thought. I have to talk to him…after the parade tonight, of course.
The redhead scuttled into a dressing room and quickly changed out of her Aminta costume and back into her regular clothes. She was very proud of her work, especially since she hand-stitched it all by herself—she didn't trust sewing machines.
She saw what happened to the Grinch.
Christine burst into giggles and walked back to the stage. She still had ten minutes before she had to leave the recital hall.
Time sure was going slow today. Instead of going back to the piano, or singing again, she just sat down at the edge of the stage and laid back, squinting at the dust motes dancing in the sunlight.
The silence was so peaceful…Erik almost forgot that someone else was in the room.
That girl was most definitely the oddest of them all.
RING!
The bell thundered in her ears, making her leap up, trip, and fall off the stage. The redhead scrambled back up and rushed back up the stairs.
"Darn stupid bell," Christine muttered as she closed up the piano. She turned off the lights for the stage and got the sense that someone was watching her as she left the building and trotted through the trees leading back up to the school.
"Christine…" Erik called, still following the redhead.
"ERIK! You ARE following me, aren't you! I can't believe it! You're a stalker. I do not wish to see you ever again. Go now and leave me!" Christine teased.
She slowed down to a walk and waited for him to answer.
He didn't.
Darn it!
"Well, Erik, if you won't talk, I will! There's gonna be a Halloween parade tonight, and I was wondering if you were gonna go too. Uhhh…there'll be too many Phantoms to count, but I'm sure you'd be the greatest, but, anyway. Oh! I almost forgot! Me'n Anna are going to see "The Phantom of the Opera" tomorrow night! I can't wait! You should come with us! I understand if you don't want to, you wouldn't want to go with us mature feminine girls anyway. Dad almost had a heart attack when I told him about the play," the redhead rambled on at her slow pace and finally stopped entirely.
"Christine…" his voice whispered in the wind.
"Yeah, Erik?" Christine leaned against a tree and didn't bother opening her eyes this time. It was wonderful outside, the sun was shining, and Erik's voice was so enchanting…
"You're late for class."
I'm afraid I shall have to go on a rather long hiatus from FFnet and fanfiction altogether.
I seriously screwed up in my homeschooling stuff and now I'm paying for my lack of effort.
Gawd, I have to do half a year of school in 1 month and a half.
I'm so stupid!
Well, anyway, I won't be back 'til June! I'M SO SORRY! But can you fault me for being lazy?
Please don't answer that.
Now…….
REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW!
Your humble authoress,
-Alianne