Disclaimer: Who do you people think I am? Andrew Lloyd Webber or Gaston Leroux? I OWN NOTHING BUT THE IDEA!
It was cold, dark misty day. The kind of day where the heat and light and confidence of most people's lives was suddenly leeched away by the deathly chill. Alone in that eerie half-light, standing just out side of carefully drawn pentagram, the silhouetted figure of a man smirked slightly with satisfaction. He loved days like these. The man in question was tall, and lean in the manner of a wolf. Dressed in black robes, with a black shirt and leggings underneath, he seemed to melt into the shadows. The hood of his robe was drawn up over his head, concealing most his facial features and hair. His eyes were practically the only facial Features visible.
There were three distinctly strange things about him though: one was a white mask that covered the right half of his face only visible due to its stark contrast with the monochromatic black of his clothes. The mask only left an eyehole and his mouth uncovered. The second was his eyes, which were gleaming feral amber. And the third was his very skin, as pale as the death and dead whom he so often came in to contact with. This masked man who stalked the half-light that all men shunned was Erik, infamous by his trade though none knew his name. By Mages and those who more than average about magic, Erik as known only by the name "Phantom", a play off his trade, and the fact that he was rarely seen, and on the few occasions that he was, Erik disappeared quickly, like the ghosts he summoned.
You see, Erik was a necromancer, one of the most feared in all the land. He was perhaps the most talented showing an uncanny gift for dark magic, in addition to necromancy as well as being an artist in many senses of the word.
And right now, he was performing a summoning. Erik held his right hand over the pentagram, and with his left hand, he slashed cut down the center of his right palm, letting blood drop in to the pentagram's center. He sprinkled a handful white and red powder around its edge while chanting "You who reside in the world unknown, the ones who fly freely without flesh or bone, come to me. The ones who reside beyond the grave, bereft of life, come to me. No longer human, but not yet beast, who prey off of life in dark, some to me. Spirits who haunt, and shadows that kill, I summon thee now, to obey my will"
Thousands upon thousands of black shapes, some humanoid, some so utterly alien, that they nearly all men cower in fright gathered in center of pentagram, each one thrashing and slamming it self against an unseen wall.
"You will not break free. The bounderies are drawn." Erik sated simply fixing a gleaming, somewhat sadistic gaze on the dead before him. The creatures in the pentagram thrashed more, but one by one they all gave up. Finally one came forward. It spoke with voice like bones rattling in an ill-made coffin "Very well. You have summoned us and we must obey. So, what is your bidding necromancer?"
"Revenge. You will make the lives of men hell on earth and send them to join you. And I will tell you the exact people you are to torment." The tone of Erik's voice was dark and baleful as spoke those words. Those inside the pentagram shrieked and howled with malicious delight as voices began to chatter away about the gruesome deeds they would do "Burn them"
"Drown them"
"Crush them"
"Break their bones."
"Strangle them"
"Bleed them"
"Cut out heir hearts"
"Skin them alive" the voices talked on, with addition to the macabre list, growing faster and louder, until all that was heard was cacophony of voices. "Enough" Erik bellowed above the din, waving one hand in sharp gesture that paralyzed the dead creatures." Go. I will summon you again when you are needed" Slowly, those inside the pentagram disappeared, and pentagram itself, turned to dust that was blown away in the breeze.
"Good." Erik whispered in strangely musical voice
"Good. Soon all will be ready, and then…" his trailed off for a moment before he continued
"Then I will have by revenge on all those who wronged me from birth to where I now stand." Erik's hand drifted up to tough his mask lightly as he spoke "If the world will not see its crimes, and repay its debts alone, then it must be made to. The world will learn its lesson at my hands and repay its debt to me in blood". Erik spoke as he was an oracle foretelling doom: dark, angry and above all his voice was hard and determined. He lowered his hand and slipped away in to the shadows. Strangely enough at the exact same moment that Erik swore vengeance on the world at large, some-one looked out the window in the direction of his voice although they could not hear it.
This Some one was Christine Daae, an heiress of a small noble family. Currently she embroidering at her window, as a noble woman should. Well, not exactly embroidering, it was more sitting and daydreaming about music and angels and her father while holding the embroidery limply in her hands. Christine was considered a shy beauty by society, curly brown hair fell down her back and clear doe like brown eyes gazed out the world. Christine was rather short, and by the higher ranked nobility, thought to be somewhat odd and a bit too innocent for her own good. She often day-dreamed, and was would speak out freely in def se of what she thought right.
"Rumors" she murmured softly
"So many rumors flying around nowadays. There's even one of a necromancer who plans to bathe the world death to suit his tastes" Christine shuddered a bit at the prospect of such a thing, then shook her head at what she believed to be pointless fears
"But that can't be true; it makes no sense at all." Her mind wandered to other things
"The king is holding his annual masked ball tomorrow night. People even say that dragons and even a few griffons are going to be there as well as all of mage's council." She smiled slightly "And Raoul. I wonder if we'll see each other before the ball"
Christine realized what she had just said about the date of the masked ball, and rushed off to prepare for the coming event. Little did she know that the masked ball would turn out to be even more than she had expected, in more ways than one.
All right, all right I know that I'm making the characters appear perfect, but their flaws will be revealed later on. And yes, there will be a masquerade. It's just not a phan phic with out a masquerade. Now review or I will send legions of the dead after you to haunt your life for all time