Disclaimer: I don't own neither X or The Phantom Of The Opera. But I own this combination of them :)
I'd like to use the opportunity and to tell you about a great anime RPG site I've been visiting lately. It's called Stella Quest L, and here's the address, in case you're interested: http/east.sakura.ne.jp/ukats/cgi-bin/sql/sql.cgi
Chapter 7: All I ask of you
Among all the panic and madness, Kamui was able to find Kotori, who looked paler than ever. She gave him a frightened gaze, grabbed his hand and almost violently pulled him away from the stage, climbing on the stairs that led to the roof.
She thought they would be safe there. She didn't realize how wrong she was.
"Why have you brought me here?" sang Kamui, trying in vain to stop Kotori.
"We can't go back there…" sang Kotori in reply.
"We must return!" insisted Kamui.
"He'll kill you…
His eyes will find us there!"
"Kotori, don't say that…"
"Thos eyes that burn!"
"Don't even think it…"
"If he has to kill a thousand man…"
"Forget this waking nightmare…"
"The phantom of the opera will kill!"
"This phantom isn't real…"
"He will kill again!" sang Kotori in a distressed voice.
"Believe me,
There is no phantom of the opera!" insured her Kamui.
"My god who is this man…"sang Kotori.
"My god who is this man…" sang Kamui, repeating her.
"Who hunts to kill?"
"This mask of death?"
"I can't escape from him,
I never will!"
"Whose is this voice, you hear
With every breath?"
"And in this labyrinth," they sang together,
"Where night is blind,
The Phantom of the Opera is there/here,
Inside my/your mind"
"There is no phantom of the opera…" finished Kamui as they reached the rooftop.
He opened the heavy door and they found themselves on the top of the opera house. The view from there was amazing- one could see the entire city of Paris, like it was laid in his hand. The night sky was full of bright stars, surrounding the huge round silver moon, which was surround by a strange red light, as if it mourned that night's cruel fate.
Kotori tried to wrap her black cloak, trying to hide from autumn's cold wind. She turned forced herself to turn around and to face Kamui. Her voice turned softer and sadder, as she sang him her version about the phantom.
"Kamui, I've been there,
To his world of unending night,
To his world where the day light
dissolves into darkness…
Darkness…
Kamui, I've seen him,
Can I ever forget that sight?
Can I ever escape from that face?
So distorted and deformed,
It was hardly a face in that darkness…
Darkness…"
But then her voice became sweet, as she recalled that the man she was talking about was her angel of music- the one who inspired her the most. She switched the melody, and was now using the phantom's music of the night.
"Put his voice and my spirit
With a strange sweet sound…
In that night there was music in my mind…
Then from music,
My soul begun to sing…"
She looked into Kamui's brown eyes as her voice turned higher and higher.
"And I had, as I never had before" she sang quietly.
"What you had, was a dream and nothing more" sang Kamui softly to her.
"Yet in his eyes,
All the sadness of the world…
Those fading eyes,
That both threaten and adore…" sang Kotori, turning her back to Kamui, remembering Fuma's face and eyes.
Kamui was deeply touched by Kotori's confused feelings toward that man, who was the so-called phantom. But he didn't want to see her in such pain, therefore he came near her, and hugged her gently, while she was still with her back to him.
"Kotori… Kotori…" he sang softly, trying to calm her down.
"Kotori…" she heard suddenly her angel's voice, just like that time at the little room, when Yuzuriha looked for her. This time, just like then, the voice seemed distant, as if it was promising to come and visit her later.
In fact, Kotori didn't imagine that voice. It was real, just like her or Kamui's voice. On the far edge of the rooftop, was standing a huge gargoyle-formed statue, watching constantly upon the city streets. Behind that statue was standing no one else than Fuma, the phantom of the opera, who listened very carefully to every word said by his student or the viscount.
The unaware-of-nothing couple stood only a few meters next to him, yet none of them sensed the presence of the phantom. They were completely focused on each other.
Kamui, though, felt Kotori's distress, and even though he had no clue what she heard, he wanted to comfort her. He wanted to tell her how he really felt. But above all- he only wanted to protect her.
"No more talk of darkness-
Forget these wide-eyed fears…
I'm here- nothing can harm you,
My words will warm and calm you…" he sang to her softly, turning her, making her look him in the eyes, where she could see all that words were unable to express.
"Let me be your freedom,
Let daylight dry your tears…
I'm here, with you, beside you
To guard you and to guide you…" he continued with a small yet honest smile.
Kotori only then realized that she had wished her entire life to hear these words from him. Her cheeks turned red, but she dared not take her eyes from his, so she expressed he felling in Kamui's song, singing with her rich voice.
"Say you love me every waking moment,
Turn my head with talk of summertime…
Say you need me with you, now and always-
Promise me that all you say is true…
That's all I ask of you!"
There was no limit for Kamui's joy as he saw that Kotori shared his felling. He so wanted to be with her…
"Let me be your shelter,
Let me be your light…
You're safe, no one will find you-
Your fears are far behind you"
"All I want is freedom,
A world with no more night…
And you, always beside me-
To hold me and to hide me" Kotori sang.
"Then say you'll share with me
One love, one lifetime…
Let me lead you from your solitude…
Say you'll need me with you here, beside you-
Anywhere you go, let me go too
Kotori, that's all I ask of you" sang Kamui.
"Say you'll share with me one love, one lifetime-
Say the word and I will follow you…"started Kotori
"Share each day with me,
Each night, each morning…" they sang together.
"Say you love me…" sang Kotori shyly.
"You know I do…" replied Kamui melodically and flicked her hair gently with his hand.
"Love me,
That's all I ask of you…" they sang together, as their faces came closer, and their lips combined in a passionate and sweet kiss.
Then, suddenly, drunk with the intoxicating emotions that swept his body, Kamui lifted Kotori in his arms, and swung her widely, her black cloak twirling around them.
"Anywhere you go, let me go too!" the two of them sang together, and Kamui put Kotori back on the rooftop.
"Love me-
That's all I ask of you…" they finished quietly their song in each others arms.
"I must go…" sang suddenly Kotori, remembering the earlier events on that night.
"They'll wonder where I am…
Come with me, Kamui" she added melodically, offering his her hand.
"Kotori, I love you!" sang Kamui, taking her hand and kissing her softly.
"Order your fine horses-
Be with them at the door!" sang Kotori happily.
"And soon you'll be beside me…" added Kamui.
"You'll guard me and you'll guide me…" smiled Kotori to him.
Only at the moment that Fuma saw the couple leaving, he allowed himself to breathe. He knew that if he'll do it earlier, he'd surely burst out of his hiding and kill the two of them on the spot. 'Oh well, maybe I would have just thrown them of the roof, and been done with it…' he thought to himself coldly, enjoying a few fine moments of exploring the various ways to kill Kamui and Kotori.
But then the amusement was gone, and all that was left was sorrow and anger. He was betrayed and mocked, and there was no suitable punishment for these crimes. He came out of hiding and walked slowly to the center of the rooftop- the exact same place where Kotori and Kamui were singing.
"I gave you my music,
Made your song take wing…" he sang in a heartbreaking sorrow.
"And now,
How you've repaid me-
Denied me and betrayed me…
He was born to love you,
When he heard you sing…
Oh, Kotori…"
Fuma lifted his head, looking strait into the star-full night sky; the same sky he hated for all his life, for it denied him everything precious and good he wanted. The sky and the gods above it were cruel to the phantom, as they weren't to any other person on earth.
His sight was full of revolt and opposition both toward his fate and to Kotori's choice. He wanted her to share his life- his loneliness, but that viscount stole her away from him. This was a problem, and there was only way he knew how to handle problems.
He ran quickly to the edge, as if he was about to jump, but he stopped there, cursing the entire world.
"You will curse the day you did not do,
All that the phantom asked of you!" he yelled in madness, and his voice sounded like the reckoning thunders themselves.
At the other side of the town, in a big hospital, was quite a mess. The two injured opera house workers- Kusanagi and Arashi- were brought there as soon as it was possible to clear the way among the panicking public. They were put in two different rooms, not to far from each other, and were treated by many doctors and nurses.
Yuzuriha and Sorata were sitting side by side in the hallway of the two rooms, silent and worried. They were the only two from the whole cast who seemed determined to stay at the hospital- at least until they will be sure that both Kusanagi and Arashi's condition is stable.
Eventually, a doctor approached them, with a serious look on his face. His looked tired and frustrated, and when he saw the two actors waiting, his expression turned even darker.
"Are you the friends of monsieur Kusanagi and mademoiselle Arashi?" he asked in a heavy French accent.
The tenor singer and the ballet dancer nodded their heads, standing up to hear the news.
"I have both good news and bad ones. Which would you like to hear first?"
"The good ones," replied Yuzuriha "anything good will be a great gift, right now"
"Very well, then." Said the doctor "The good new concern monsieur Kusanagi. He appears to be a very lucky person, for his neck didn't break under the pull of the rope it was tied to. We were managed to cure his other wounds, and it seems like there isn't anything serious. His condition is stable, and we presume that he will be back on his feet in a few days"
Yuzuriha's face was full of relive. She practically shined.
Sorata's expression, on the contrary, was full a tortured one, for her new the source of the bad news. "What about Arashi, then?" he asked with a heavy heart.
"Alas, mademoiselle Arashi's condition isn't that good. We can't seem to find a match of the venom she was poisoned with, therefore, we can't produce an antidote"
Sorata felt as if somebody hit him in his ribs with an iron club, and took all the air out of his lungs. His head was dizzy and he couldn't find the strength to stand.
"Isn't there anything you can do?" asked Yuzuriha in hope.
"Unfortunately, mademoiselle, there isn't." replied the doctor "We need a sample of the poison"
"Then maybe this will help" said a familiar voice behind them. The turned quickly and saw madam Karen standing there, dressed in her dark dress, holding her walking stick in one hand, and a small white bottle in the other.
"Here," she said and given the bottle to the doctor "go, save her life. Her day hasn't come yet" she added, using the now empty hand to touch the cross medallion on her neck.
At that moment, Sorata wanted to kiss her. He looked like a resurrected man- the color returned to his face, and his brown eyes gained back their naughty shine.
"Thank god!" he called in his tenor voice.
"Don't thank him, monsieur." Said Karen quietly "He had nothing to do with it" she added in a dark voice, while her hand was still playing with the cross.
MOI: The end of chapter 7! As always- hope you liked it! Please review and let me know what you thought of it!
Preview of chapter 8: Three months will pass from this chapter's events, and it will take place at the grand ball masquerade of the opera house. That means that it'll be filled with characters and events :) Stay tuned!
DarkFusion: Hope you liked the Kamui/Kotori part, and I'm happy that you liked the previous chapter, because like I said- I wasn't really satisfied by it. Seishiro made me laugh at the previous chapter, and for that I would give him his cigarette back at the next time!
I'm a lot into fighting games, but I don't play at PS2 or PS… only at PC. This game sounds interesting- is there a PC version?
Unicorn'sWhisper: I'm glad that you're glad. As for your question- read again the first part of this chapter and tell me if you can replace Kamui with Fuma without throwing up… Just kidding, I chose Fuma because his dark and cool and everything, just like the phantom should be :)
Sakurazuka-chan: That "father" part was stuck in my mind for to long, so I just had to take it out. Nataku is really funny to write about- you should try him sometime.
Chenya: I refuse to torture or kill characters in the way you do ;) Therefore the second part of this chapter! I know that if it would have been you who wrote this, both Arashi and Kusanagi would have been dead, Yuzuriha would have fallen for Sorata, he would have fallen for Kamui, which would have hanged Kotori and Karen, while Fuma was taking you on a date! This is why I write this! LOL! Love you, girl!
Neferseba: Yeah, I also really liked the sentence- that's why I made it the chapter title ;) Hope you liked this one as well. It had 3 songs!
X rocks!: Kusanagi's alive, so you can stop worry! Thanks for the review, and as usual- hope you liked this chapter!