THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR YOUR REVIEWS: D You have no idea how happy I get when I find review alert in my mailbox, it just makes my day! I love you guys! Don't worry Emily singing reflection because there are still 2 chapters left, (yes I'm very sad about that: ( I'm really attached to this story). Because of this, I'm trying to spread the chapters out a bit.

Omg just finished watch Phantom again. That movie is so good! AND THE DELETED SCENE IS SO BEAUTIFUL! I WOULD LOVE YOU ERIK, but since I can't, I sent Elphie to take care of that. Ok, the deleted scene really inspired me for all the Erik parts of this chapter so I couldn't help but put in it here because I was watching that scene and I was like OMG THIS IS SO PERFECT!

8. Anywhere You Go

Erik didn't know how much longer he would be able to survive without his beloved enchantress. This separation was almost as bad as the time between Christine's departure and Elphaba's arrival. There had been so many moments when he had considered killing himself before she had come, but he knew he would get through this, he had to pull through. She would be back soon right? There was nothing to worry about, right? She had only been gone for a few days but it felt like years and this agonizing separation was taking quite a toll on him. Every single time he tried to do something to preoccupy himself, images of her played before his eyes. He tried to submerse himself in a warm, scented bath, hoping to relax his nerves, but the water began to remind him of Elphaba's caress and the events of that night in paradise haunted him. He tried to soothe himself in music, only to find that his fingers stumbled over the keys of the organ in protest. He tried to draw, but the pictures of her face were as comforting as they were painful and his hands would begin to shake, smudging the paper and making unnecessary marks. He tried writing, putting any thoughts he had down on paper, trying to find a release, but he only succeeded in blotting his words from his tremulous hands. Everything was hopeless. Her presence was everywhere and there was no way to escape it. Erik gave up. He went into their room and laid down on the bed. It felt so empty without her beside him, where she rightfully should be. The Phantom grabbed her pillow, holding it close to him. It still possessed her faint scent. He couldn't escape. Erik couldn't take this mounting insanity any longer. He threw the pillow back and released a mournful growl. He stomped over to the lake and splashed the frigid water onto his face, trying to snap out of this horrible state.

Erik leaned back, taking a moment to calm down. He reclined against the stones and watched the lights and fog dance on the surface of the lake. Elphaba was his relief; she made the home that had been a personal hell for so long a paradise, the only person who could possibly understand the exact meaning of outcast. She was the only one who cared enough to hear his soul weeping.

"No one would listen.

No one but her, heard as the outcast hears.

"Shamed into solitude,

Shunned by the multitude;

I learned to listen;

In my dark, my heart heard music.

"I long to teach the world;

rise up and reach the world.

No one would listen.

I alone could hear the music."

He moved over to the organ and sat down, his fingers soundlessly sweeping over the keys. Fond memories of Elphaba flashed before his eyes; the first time she had hugged him; the joy he felt as they soared through the sky together; how she had smiled as he kissed her the morning after they made love. For a moment, his precious memories gave relief and a tiny smile came to his face.

"Then at last, a voice in the gloom

seemed to cry 'I hear you!'

I hear your fears, your torment and your tears."

His gaze drifted towards a sketch of her he kept next to the organ. The world could be so cruel. He could understand why people feared him so much; his twisted face was quite revolting, but why did the world punish her? Her green skin did little or nothing to obscure her beauty. If anything, it only magnified it. And at least the cause she was persecuted for was just, unlike him, who would kill for almost no reason. But still, Elphaba had been right. They really weren't that different after all.

"She saw my loneliness;

Shared in my emptiness.

No one would listen.

No one but her, heard as the outcast hears."

He sighed as got up and walked into the bedroom. With tender care, he picked up her pillow, hugging it tightly to him. Her scent brought all of the pain that had momentarily subsided. He missed her so much. A moment without her beside him was already torture; days without her were an unforgiving hell. A few tears began to trickle down his cheeks.

"No one would listen.

No one but her, heard as the outcast hears…" Slowly his voice trailed away and the teardrops sleadily turned into salty rivers.

"Oh, Elphaba," he sobbed into her pillow, "Please come back my love! Please, please come back…" He laid down, pulling the sheets to him like a child and clutched the pillow to his heart. He yearned for her gentle caress and sweet lips so much. It was hard to believe that she had been lying safely in his arms only a few days ago. Just then he remembered something: she had promised him that she would return in a few days and her eyes held no traces of dishonesty. She would be back soon; she had to be back soon! If she didn't, he would surely die!

"Please come back soon," he whispered. His eyes closed as he cried himself to sleep.


After a very dizzying trip, Glinda had arrived at the Phantom's lair again. It was hard to believe that it had only been a matter of days since she had announced Nessa's death, yet the news she bared now was far more horrid and worse than before. A few tears ran down her rosy cheeks. Why did her only real best friend have to leave forever? She clutched a few of her late friend's remaining items: her precious spell book and infamous hat. 'Oh, Elphie, why did you have to go?' Glinda took a deep breath, feeling sick from the task that she had to complete. Elphaba had made her promise before she died that if anything happened to her, her best friend had to let Erik know. It was going to be absolutely heartbreaking to see his reaction. Glinda had seen how Elphaba and her lover had kissed, how he had held her like he never wanted to let go, and the tears in his eyes as she left. You didn't just find a love like that any day; what they had was something special.

"Erik," she squeaked, her voice choked with emotion and nervousness.

Erik came out of the bedroom, this time with a shirt on. That voice was familiar, but he knew perfectly well that it did not belong to Elphaba. "Glinda? What are you doing here?" There was something about her that was making him very uneasy. Her eyes were puffy and her cheeks were stained with tears. In her arms she held the Grimmory and Elphaba's hat. Oh God, something was terribly wrong. He should have known not to let her go back to a place where she was wanted.

"Erik, I'm so, so sorry," Glinda said, trying very hard to keep her voice was shaking and tears from streaming down her face. "There was a bucket of water and it… She… Oh Oz she got melted!" The Witch of the North was losing her battle of resistance. Tears began to fall and she could not stop the uncontrollable sobs that choked her throat them. "She's gone."

It was if he had just taken a massive blow to the chest. Erik's mind instantly went into a state of shock. There was no emotion, no thought, just an unbearable numbness. "No," he whispered automatically.

"Th- this is all that was left." Her trembling hand reached out, handing him her hat. Erik took it, his mind still dazed as he held it to uncovered cheek. Slowly his mind was beginning to understand Glinda's message. It was horrible how cruel these simple words could be. Two simple words, "she's gone", were finally starting to sink in, making him desperate for the tiniest spark of hope.

"Please Glinda, please tell me that this is a mistake! Please, she can't be dead! God almighty she can't be dead!" he pleaded over and over as the steady rush of tears fell. There had to be some way that she had survived! There had to be, there must be! This nightmare couldn't possibly be real! His emerald angel couldn't have died! She was too quick, too clever! Oh, God this was all his fault! Why didn't he stop her? Why did he have to be so stupid and let her return to such a dangerous place? Now she was gone, and all he had left were the worst regrets that any human soul could ever possess: "if only".

Instantly Glinda felt her heart break. She knew it was coming. There was no way that such reactions were inevitable, but nothing could have braced her to see him sobbing uncontrollably as he held her hat. No mourning that she had ever witnessed was this powerful. Why hadn't fate seen that it had not been Elphaba's time? It was clear to see that Oz held no future for her, yet it was unlimited here.

"Erik, I'm so sorry. It wasn't right. Please, I am willing to help in any way I can," she said between sobs.

Erik shook his head. "No, you won't need to," he said in a broken whisper. "Go back to Oz. There is nothing here but a barren, dark wasteland."

Glinda watched as he sat down at an enormous pipe organ, secretly looking at sketches she assumed were of her friend. With one last look and an unsure incantation, Glinda arrived back in Oz, inside Elphaba's castle. Though Elphaba had not lived in it for months, it was still haunted by her presence, and now, her spirit. She left the book where Elphaba had fallen, making it a personal gravestone to mark the sight where the great Wicked Witch of the West fell.


It wasn't fair. It wasn't fair that when existence finally became worth living and meaningful, it was shattered into nothing. Erik fell to his knees and looked heavenward in despair and loathing. "DAMN YOU!" he cried out in mourning. "WHY THE HELL DO YOU ALWAYS HAVE TO PUNISH ME! WHY THE HELL DO YOU HAVE TO TAKE AWAY EVERYTHING THAT GIVES ME THE SLIGHTEST BIT OF JOY! CURSE YOU! YOU BASTARD! WHY MUST YOU CURSE ME BEFORE I WAS BORN! WHY DID YOU HAVE TO TAKE HER FROM ME! I HATE YOU! I HATE YOU! I FINALLY FOUND SOMEONE WHO UNDERSTANDS WHAT IT'S LIKE TO BE HATED, TO BE AN OUTCAST AND YOU HAVE TO KILL HER, DAMN IT! EVEN SATAN IS MORE MERCIFUL THEN YOU! YOU ARE MORE OF A MURDERER THAN I EVER WAS! WHY, YOU DAMNABLE GOD? WHY? Why?" He slumped to the floor, crumpling in grief.

Erik sat there, sobbing uncontrollably, feeling so helpless with this mournful fire burning his heart and soul. He blamed God, he hated God, he only wished that he could let the Creator know exactly what it was like to be human. But the tables were turning. She had promised him that she would come back. She had promised that she would always be there! She lied!

"Elphaba, why, my love! WHY!" he cried, trying to release some of this hateful agony. He stopped himself, feeling like the words were too harsh for his beloved. He could never truly be mad at her. "Why did you have to leave me alone? You know what my hellish solitude had been like. Why must you condemn me to it permanently? Elphaba, please come back!"


Time passed by in a bland existence, with false hopes that Glinda had been wrong, that Elphaba would soon show up and life would return to the bliss of before. Alas, Erik knew that he was living a lie. She was gone forever, no matter how much he prayed and begged. She had passed into death's realm and there was no way for her to return. But there had to be some way to see her again!

A gruesome idea entered Erik's head. He went to his room, finding his old friend: the Punjab lasso. It had been so long since this silent killer had been used. He checked the rope, making sure that it was still strong and sturdy before securing it on the grate. Erik knew that he had to be with her every waking moment, each night, each morning, whether in death or life. Life was no longer an option. Never had he ever thought that the lasso would claim his own life, but there was no turning back now. He put the noose around his neck and climbed upon a rock, ready to take a small, but fatal plunge. He was ready to join her for an eternity.

"Say you'll share with me one love, one lifetime.

Lead me save me from my solitude.

Say you want me with you here beside you.

ANYWHERE YOU GO LET ME GO TOO!

ELPHIE, THAT'S ALL I ASK OF…"

Ooooooh, another nasty cliffie! Sorry guys, couldn't help it. Chapter 9 is also going to be a fairly long one so no idea how long it is gonna take. I'll try not to leave you hanging for long, but sadly, the chapters are really counting down, so I'm trying to stretch things out.