A/N: cheerfully prances in wearing her whole Erik costume minus gloves—Well, hello! –Think of Me is blaring in the background—I just fixed my mask, which makes me very happy. With any luck, my Christine is practicing now. So, I know you just wanna get to the story, so I'll start writing now.
Disclaimer 1: I own my mask, I don't own my cape, I don't own my gloves. You think I own the rights to Phantom of the Opera? Hah, I think you're crazy.
Disclaimer 2: I belong to Rumiko Takahashi. What makes you think anything of hers belongs to me?
AHEM- Those of you with soundtracks, I suggest you put them on now, and hop on down to 'The Phantom of the Opera'
:Kagome:
Before I knew it, I was no longer in my dressing room. A man stood before me, his face masked. He took my hand and led me down the hallway. He certainly did not look like anyone I had ever seen before. I could not see his ears, yet his hair was visible to me quite clearly. It was white, yet he did not seem old. More of an elegant, young white. It was kept behind him, tied back by a black ribbon. He was nearly all black, with a flowing black cape, and a black suit underneath. The hand that held mine was encased in a black glove. Only, his skin was pale, and his hair I already noticed to be not in the least dark. His mask was white as well.
However, as he brought me down the strange and unusual pathways of the Opera, which I had never seen before, it seemed to me that he was quite handsome, in a very unusual and unique way.
It was at that moment that I realised I was not exactly in decent clothing. I blushed as it came to me I had not really finished dressing, and was still in my petticoats, with my corset very visible. However, my masked companion did not seem to notice, so I resigned myself to forgetting about it.
Words of a song came to me, and begged to be sung.
"In sleep he sang to me, in dreams he came." He seemed pleased about my singing. "That voice which calls to me, and speaks my name."
I turned to him. "And do I dream again, for now I find, the Phantom of the Opera is there, inside my mind."
He smirked, and led me around a corner of the seemingly endless corridors with a swirl of his cape. "Sing once again with me!" He sung, his voice a rich tenor, sweeping through the notes as if he owned them. "Our strange duet…" He turned to me. "My power over you, grows stronger yet!" He smirked once again. "And though you turn from me, to glance behind, the Phantom of the Opera is there, inside your mind."
He helped me onto a white horse, one I faintly acknowledged as having been stolen a week ago. "Those who have seen your face," I began again "draw back in fear. I am the mask you wear-"
"It's me they hear." He responded.
"Your spirit and my voice, in one combined," we sang together, him singing the opposite, "The Phantom of the Opera is there, inside my mind!"
I dismounted from the horse and he continued to lead me down another hallway. It seemed to me as if we were going deeper and deeper below the Opera House. "He's there, the Phantom of the Op-era!" I sang.
We stood before a lake, a gondola waiting there for us. I got in and sat down. He stood, and pushed off. He gestured for me to resume singing.
"Ahhhahahahahahhh!" I sang a sort of chord trill, an exercise, but it seemed to fit.
"Sing, my angel of music!" He shouted.
"Ahhhahahahahahhh!" I repeated, this time at a higher key
"Sing, my angel!"
"Ahhhahahahahahhh!" I repeated once more.
"Sing, my angel!"
"Ahhhhhh!" I went up a note. "Ahhhh!"
"Sing for me!" He yelled.
I went to the highest note I could hit. "aAhhhhhhh!"
:Opera Ghost:
Kagome sung beautifully, even more beautifully when she sang with me. I pushed the pole down, docking at my, well, home, I suppose. I climbed out, while she remained seated. "I have brought you, to the seat of sweet music's throne, to this Kingdom where all must pay homage to music, music. You have come here for one purpose and one alone. From the moment I first heard you sing, I have needed you with me, to serve me to sing, my music, music."
A bit of a silence there. Well, er, when at a loss, just sing!
:Kagome:
Perhaps he had me under some sort of a spell. At any rate, all I wanted then was just to hear him sing. I didn't want to eat, I didn't want to sleep, I just wanted to hear him sing.
And…the funny part is…it didn't scare me at all.
I waited for him to sing again.
Or, maybe, he wanted me to sing? Erk, talk about an awkward silence!
The tension was relieved, when, at last, he did begin to sing.
"Nighttime sharpens, heightens each sensation. Darkness stirs, and wakes imagination! Silently the senses, abandon their defenses."
In a strange way, it had a sort of soothing lull to it, and yet had a bizarrely romantic sense to it. But perhaps that was just me, I've always had rather odd tastes.
"Slowly, gently, night unfurls its splendor. Grasp it, sense it! Tremulous and tender."
He reached down and helped me out of the gondola. "Turn your face away, from the garrish light of day! Turn your thoughts away from cold, unfeeling light…"
He gestured to the surroundings. "And listen to the Music of the Night."
:Opera Ghost:
She liked my singing! I could tell, and it gave me an overwhelming confidence I hadn't had in a long time. "Close your eyes, and surrender to your darkest dreams, purge all thoughts of the life you knew before!" I changed my tone to a slightly gentler (as gentle as my voice gets! Feh!) tone. "Close your eyes, let your spirit start to soar…"
"And you'll live, as you've never lived before…" Oh, with me! Please let her stay with me!
"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…"
She smiled! I swear, she did! "Let your mind start to journey though a strange new world! Leave all thoughts of the life you knew before! Let your soul take you where you long to BE!"
My voice echoed through the cellars, slightly unnerving me, though I did not let it show. I meekly finished the line. "Only then, can you belong, to me."
:Kagome:
"Floating, falling, sweet intoxication." (I was intoxicated by his voice, darn it!) He took my hand "Touch me, trust me, savour 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."
If he wrote this song…well then, consider me impressed! It was far better than the songs that I sung on stage. However, I felt myself growing drowsy, and I remembered it actually was night time, at about the time I usually went to sleep before or after an Opera night. I tried to conceal my tired-ness, but it failed when I tried to take a step up and collapsed.
To my surprise, he picked me up, and carefully carried me to a bed. I was too worn out to even consider that he might have climbed in with me, but fortunately he didn't. Instead, he covered me with his cloak and finished the song. "You alone can make my song take flight……help me make the music of the…night."
A/N: Shorter than usual, I know. However, I decided sacrificing length in order to keep the lovely romantic mood was better than sacrificing the lovely romantic mood so as to keep the chapter running i.e. writing about Tsubaki and Hojo, and all that chaos. You'll see that next chapter.
Ahem, credits to Insanity Most Pure, I kind of used their transliteration of the whole "I have brought you, to the seat of sweet music's throne, etc. etc." part. On the other hand, my own version of Music of the Night is a little screwed up, but relatively sound.
My 'The Phantom of the Opera' should be more or less flawless except for the missing-ness of one line. Does anyone know the line, "Leave all your fantasies, something something something, And in this Labyrinth, where night is blind, the Phantom of the Opera is here, inside my/your mind"? That's what's missing.
Review Responses
Hazel Eyed Freak: I adore devoted readers, especially when they attempt to toss me into Hell to get me to update. Twisted, I know. Lol. Though, it's rather ironic….—casts rueful look at herself in mirror, garbed as Erik, otherwise known as the Angel in Hell—
Sakura, evil twin of Sango: Awww, thanks!
Kagome1514: I certainly shall. I was going to read more today, but the minute I got to chapter 7 (where I thought I left off), the internet died. I spent the next few minutes cursing AOL and Windows very loudly. I can't wait to read your version, it sounds very interesting!
Recommendations:
Any of you who read POTO fics, I strongly recommend you hop on down to Kates' bio after reviewing. She writes awesome Erik/Christine fics, and has a fantastic style of writing, which engrossed me enough to read some of her Fairy Tales stories. I HIGHLY recommend reading 'La Belle et le Fantome'. The BEST PotO fic ever written.
Also, anyone who hasn't done so, I urge you to watch the Gerard Butler and Emmy Rossum (2004) version of Phantom of the Opera. Gods, that movie is wonderful. I saw it three times, and pity you if your didn't see it in theaters.
I just realised how much has changed since I began writing. At first, one page was an amazong amount to me. And now, four pages is short! Huh!
To Those Wondering About Mask Versus Hanyou: Although his ears will certainly be an issue, I do have an idea for the mask, so please leave it on.
And please review!