Disclaimer: I don't own neither X or The Phantom Of The Opera. But I own this combination of them :)
Chapter 3: In Sleep He Sang To Me
Kotori felt a small shiver as she took the phantom's offered hand, taking slow and careful steps toward him. She expected his gloved hand to be cold, but she found it warm and soft. He held her hand gently, as if she was a fragile vase, which will be broken if handed to forcefully.
The young ballet dancer followed the phantom, her angel, trough the mirror- that was actually a door to narrow stairs. They walked slowly, while the phantom guides her, holding her hand and stabilizing her. After a moment, a melody came to Kotori's mind, and she began singing it.
"In sleep he sang to me,
In dreams he came.
That voice which calls to me,
And speaks my name…
And do I dream again?
For now I find,
The Phantom of the Opera is there,
inside my mind!"
"Sing once again with me,
our strange duet.
My power over you
Grows stronger yet.
And though you turn from me
To glance behind,
The Phantom of the Opera is there,
inside your mind!"
The long and confusing maze of the catacombs had reached its end, and the two of them were standing on a tide of a small lake. The phantom led Kotori to a small boat, gesturing her to climb in. she did so, as he stood above her and rowed forward.
"Those who have seen your face,
Draw back in fear.
I am the mask you wear…" she was singing.
"It's me they hear!" the phantom answered, and combined his voice to hers, in a perfect harmony.
"Your/My spirit and my/your voice
In one combined
The Phantom of the Opera is there/here inside my/your mind…"
"In all your fantasy you always knew,
That man and mystery..." he started a new chorus.
"Were both in you…" Kotori answered, as their voiced combined once again.
"And in this labyrinth
Where night is blind
The Phantom of the Opera is here/there…"
"Inside my mind!" Kotori finished.
She played with her voice, reaching higher and higher levels, while the lake ended and they found themselves in a big cave, decorated with statues, chandeliers and one huge and beautiful organ.
The boat stopped near the ground and the phantom helped Kotori to stand, while she was exploring the lair with wide-open eyes, clearly shocked by what she saw.
"Welcome, Kotori, to my kingdom of music" he said in his deep voice.
"This is amazing! It's like a dream" the young woman said in a friendly smile.
The phantom remained silent while his student walked around. He smiled himself a small curly smile, satisfied by what he sees.
Way above that lair, over the surface, it was raining. They rain filled the night silence, adding to it lightning and thunder affects. It washed the streets, suppressing the human smell that possessed Paris, adding to it a new and fresh scent.
Sorata, who personally had nothing against rain, was standing near a small window in a small hospital, not far from Arashi's bed. The young Diva was brought there earlier, after being hit by that loose heavy curtain. The doctors gave her something that was meant to help her pain, but instead she simply lost her c, so that the young tenor singer couldn't really know how she was doing. And since he had nothing really important to do, he staid with her, waiting patiently for her to wake up, sensing quietly different songs to himself, not knowing that she could hear him in her sleep.
Eventually, after a few long hours, he noticed that her eyes stared to twitch, as if she tried to open her yes. He came near her and sat on a chair next to the bed. For some undefined reason, it was really important to him that the first thing she will see, when she opens her eyes, will be his face.
Eventually her long black eyelashes flipped a few times, and she opened her eyes, focusing them on Sorata.
"Hey, sis, how do you feel?" He asked.
"Hungry" was the only she said.
'No wonder…' Sorata thought and went looking for some food. When he returned he found her sitting in her bed, trying to look proud and strong. That was what he always liked about her- she was strong willed and she was cold outside, yet inside of her was burning fire. She was smart and quick thinking. She was beautiful and talented. She was…
Sorata stopped that line of thoughts, realizing that he was staring awkwardly at her. "Here, I brought you something to eat…" he said.
Arashi looked at him in a thoughtful look, then looked at the food. When she seemed to reach the conclusion that the tenor singer had no intention of poisoning her, she ate what he had brought her, discovering that she was even hungrier than she thought she was.
"Thank you" she said politely when she finished.
"Don't mention it, sis" he smiled widely towards her.
"What did that stupid doctor gave me?" she asked him in an annoyed voice "I only had wounded my leg. Now I feel as if I was hit by a carriage".
"He said that you should be alright in just a couple of days" Sorata tried to cheer her.
"I truly hope so. For that doctor's sake…" she replied in sarcasm. And then she remembered something that bothered her. "Say, Sorata, what did you mean back then, when you said that you promised to save me?"
"Oh, that was nothing special…" he said, trying to avoid the question.
"Sorata…" Arashi began getting angry, and her voice was a pure warning.
"Well, I decided on you…"
"Decided what?" Arashi was about to get out of her bed and shake the tenor singer until he tells her what in the world has been going on.
"Are you still here?" a loud feminine voice pierced the room, as one of the nurses came in, looking madly at Sorata.
"Well she just woke up, madam…"
"Monsieur, she needs to rest. I ask you to leave at once" the nurse's voice made it clear that there wasn't any place for arguments.
"I'll visit you tomorrow" he promised Arashi, and with a small polite bow, he left.
Arashi's curses were most creative, at this point.
Kotori stood near the phantom's big organ, tempting to put her fingers on the keys and start playing. The phantom noticed her temptation, and remembered a song he composed long ago, with the organ. He thought that this is a very appropriative moment to sing it, and so he did, singing in a soft voice, capturing Kotori's attention.
"Nighttime sharpens, heightens each sensation.
Darkness stirs and wakes imagination.
Silently the senses abandon their defenses…"
His young student turned toward him, listening to the sweet song.
"Slowly, gently, night unfurls its splendor.
Grasp it, sense it, tremulous and tender.
Turn your face away form the garish light of day,
Turn your thoughts away from cold unfeeling light-
And listen to the music of the night…"
And then, suddenly, his voice turned louder, as if it wanted to pierce trough the layers of ground above the lair, burst into the world above and to be heard at the whole world.
"Close your eyes
And surrender to your darkest dreams,
Purge your thoughts of the life you knew before…
Close your eyes let your sprit start to soar!
And you'll live as you've never lived before…
Softly, deftly, music shall caress you,
Hear it, feel it, secretly possess you.
Open up your mind, let your fantasies unwind-
In this Darkness that you know you cannot fight,
The Darkness of the Music of the Night!"
Kotori felt drowned to the phantom. She came close to him, amazed by the pure power in his voice, lifting her hand, wanting to touch his face, but he took her hand instead, and led her to another part of his lair. She sat on a chair while he was singing to he.
"Let your mind
Start to journey through a strange new world,
Leave all thoughts of the life you knew before,
Let your soul take you where you long to be!
Only then can you belong to me…
Floating, falling, sweet intoxication.
Touch me, trust me, savor each sensation.
Let the dream begin, let your darker side give in-
To the power of the music that I write-
The Power of the Music of the Night!"
As his voice reached its highest level, tears were in Kotori's eyes. She was so touched by the song and by the man who sang it, that she simply couldn't hold her tears. She understood, finally, the dark fate of the phantom- he was doomed to live alone, without friends or family, without love or beauty, with only hatred to everyone and everything. But he was talented and intelligent- he was practically a genius, but all he really needed was a friend by his side; somebody to support him and share his loneliness. Kotori was crying for his fate, wishing there was some way in which she could help him.
She kept on crying even when the phantom kneeled in front of her, gently wiping her tears with his fingers.
"You alone can make my song take flight…" he sang silently, trying to make her stop crying, and smile instead.
"Help me make the music of the night…" the phantom finished his song simply, receiving an honest smile from his student, who hugged his friendly and kept on crying on his shoulder.
Yuzuriha sat near the window in her small room, too thrilled to sleep. She watched the empty streets and the raining sky, smiling pleasantly to herself, remembering the wonderful events of last evening, when she was out with Kusanagi.
After a few hours of sitting there, she eventually stood up, understanding that this night she won't sleep. And if so, she wanted to share her little triumph with her best friend- Kotori.
The young ballet dancer putted her heavy gray clack on her, and went outside her room, heading towards her friend's chamber.
"Kotori, are you awake?" she asked quietly, after knocking on the door, but no answer came from inside.
A sudden understanding came to her mind, that it was about 3 am, and that her friend is probably sleeping deeply after her concert. Yuzuriha would have left the stop and returned to her room, but she was to excited, and she knew that her friend will forgive her for waking her up. So she knocked again, much louder this time.
And still no answer came from within.
Yuzuriha jerked her eyebrows, placing her ear near the door, expecting to hear Kotori's breaths or any other sound that will explain her the meaning of the silence. But she heard nothing.
Her hand touched the door handle, and she was amazed to find out that the door was locked. A brief pick into the keyhole discovered her that the key from Kotori's side was missing, thus the door was locked from outside. So either Kotori wasn't in the room, or she was locked inside, in god-knows what condition.
A sound of steps made Yuzuriha turn around, in a half frightened face. She saw Satsuki walking to her room down the corridor, wearing a black and green dress. The problem was, that in order to get to her room, Satsuki had to walk near Yuzuriha, and since there was no place for Yuzuriha to hide, she had no choice but to keep standing there, until Satsuki noticed.
"What are you doing here at this hour?" the two ballet-favorites asked each other at the same time.
"It's non of your business" answered Satsuki rapidly.
'From the way she was looking, she surly must have been out with someone,' decided Yuzuriha 'on a date, perhaps? Why, Satsuki, you little…' she didn't finish this thought, out of modesty.
"This is Kotori's room, isn't it? Isn't she asleep at this time of night?" Satsuki asked.
"Well…" Yuzuriha wasn't sure if to tell Satsuki about her worries, but then she thought that Satsuki would insist on finding out anyway. So she decided to surrender. "I can't hear anything from inside the room, and the door is locked from outside"
It seemed to have picked Satsuki's interest. "I'm sure you have another key for your best friend's room" she said, reading Yuzuriha's thoughts.
"How did you know?"
"Please… don't insult my intelligence," Satsuki said in sarcasm "now open that door. She could be in trouble"
Yuzuriha took out a metal key and stubbed it inside the keyhole, turning the key, until she heard a metal click. She pushed the handle and opened the door. Inside everything looked normal, except the small fact that mademoiselle Kotori was nowhere to be found.
"It seems that she went out without telling me…" mentioned Yuzuriha, and was about to close the door.
"Wait, what's that?" Satsuki asked and pointed at a thin line of light coming from a gap between one of the walls and the big mirror.
The two young women reentered the room and approached the mirror, examining the strange light. It appeared to come from a corridor behind the mirror, which was lit by candles. The corridor ended in stairs, which ended somewhere beneath them.
"Do you think she went there?" asked Yuzuriha.
"Beast says 'yes' " Satsuki answered.
"Huh?"
"Oh, never mind… let's go"
They walked pass the mirror, slowly and carefully, heading towards the stairs.
"And just where do you two think you're going, young ladies?" they heard a female voice behind them.
"Mother!" Yuzuriha called when recognized the woman as madam Karen.
"I believe that this is not the time for you to be wandering around!" the baler mistress's voice was harsh. "Leave"
"But what is down there? And where is Kotori?" Satsuki insisted.
"She is at the hands of the phantom of the opera, and if you go down these stairs, or tell anyone about them, you will die, and not even I will be able to protect you." Karen answered, "Now, I need you to swear to me you won't do any of these!"
"Fine, mother" agreed Yuzuriha.
"I don't know…" Satsuki said.
"Swear to me!" Karen's eyes were filled with fire flames when she looked at Satsuki.
The young woman tried to resist, but it was for vain. "Fine, I swear" she said eventually.
"Not even to Yuto!" warned her Karen, making Yuzuriha look strangely at her friend. 'So this is the one with whom she was on a date tonight' Yuzuriha thought.
"Fine, fine!"
"In that case, I with you two goodnight. Or at least what's left of it. I expect you to be in your chambers in the next five minuets, or you will deeply regret it at tomorrow's rehearsals" Karen's voice was softer, but still strict.
The ballet mistress watched her two favorites leaving, while thinking of the third. 'Dear god,' she prayed, her hand closing around the crest medallion on her neck, 'Please guard them. Please don't let me be wrong!'
ME: and this is the end of chapter 3! Thanks for reading it, and I'm looking forward to your reviews!
Anyway, I really like writing this one, because I wrote with Sorata and Satsuki- they are really fan to write with.
Forgive me if Arashi was a bit strange. I strongly admire her character, but she is very difficult to write with, especially coz' I'm trying to combine her with Carlotta, who has a totally different character.
:( This was a Kamuiless chapter, but don't be sad. There'll plenty of him in the next chapter, and I promise to work on him, and turn him back to Kamui instead of Raul.
What did you think of the phantom? How's Fuma doing? I'm trying to make him as cool as he in the series, but also with a bit of phantom's sadness… let me know what you think of it.
Shame on you! Just kidding :) But none of you suggested a role for Kakyo… you don't like him this much? Poor Kakyo... :( :( :(
I have an unrelated question- does any of you, by chance, knows any sites where I can find anime music sheets?
So this is it! See you next time :)
DarkFusion: I am so glad that you didn't abandon me:) Thank you for your kind words and for the +fav! I'm happy that you find your beloved pairings in my story- as you noticed; pairings is the main theme in this story. So I hope you're having time reading this chapter… and don't worry about Kotori/Fuma, I'm not a huge fan of this one- they are friends. Kotori is reserved foe Kamui!
neferseba: Thanks! Hope you liked this chapter! Please let me know what you thought of it :)
Chenya: My beloved Chen-Chen! Thank you, sweetie! I'm so happy you liked it… it's all for you! Enjoy it, because it's from the bottom of my little heart (yeah, I was managed to find one inside of me! I know- I was shocked to…). I've started Arashi/Sorata's story here, and hopefully it will continue, coz' you know how much I love them :)…Try to think of Fuma and Kotori as of friend…. I've decided that I'll throw up if I'll have them fall for each other. So let me know what you thought of this chapter.
X rocks: You came back and waited for an update! This is very nice of you. Thank you. I understand what you say about Kamui, he can sometimes be a pain in the ;) but he's a good guy, eventually. I've also started a bit of Satsuki/Yuto's story in this chapter, and I hope you liked it.