A/N: A rather short chapter now, but never mind... I'll be coming to Don Juan Triumphant next... I'm extremely tempted to let Ellisa slap Christine... hmm... I am sorry of Ellisa is turning into a dreaded Mary-Sue. But at least she isn't as perfect as Christine... Enjoy!

Chapter Thirteen

It would soon be time for the curtains to rise on Don Juan Triumphant. Ellisa, remembering the time Erik had taken her to see Romeo and Juliet, had decided to wait and watch in Box Five, hoping against hope that Erik would appear there to watch his opera and his diva. It never entered Ellisa's mind that someone else might have bought the box – she didn't think the management would dare.

And so it was something of a surprise when the door opened and, rather than it being Erik's tall, foreboding figure that entered, it was instead the somewhat dashing figure of a handsome young man with a youthful, honest aristocratic face.

"Yes?" The boy frowned at Ellisa, and she jumped up in surprise and embarrassment.

"I'm sorry, I'll go…" She went to leave, but he held out a hand to stop her.

"No… don't. What were you doing here, anyway? I thought none of you ballet rats ever dared do anything that might anger 'O.G'." Ellisa raised an eyebrow, not only at his somewhat snobbish words, but also at his display of knowledge of the hierarchy of the Opera House, of which Erik was king.

"I would ask you the same thing." Ellisa responded, haughtily. "I'm surprised that a pampered thing like yourself would ever risk his anger. And I am not a ballet rat."

Now it was the young man's turn to look surprised, but he quickly covered it with a charming smile.

"Indeed. It seems we are now even… and I apologise for my earlier comment." Ellisa smiled back, but the boy suddenly frowned, and asked:

"Well, what are you then, if not a member of the chorus?" He glanced uncomfortably at her slightly worn and plain clothing, and flushed. "Well, I mean, if you are a member of the audience…"

Ellisa did her best to restrain a laugh at his bumbling attitude, and decided to err on the side of truth.

"I am a friend of the composer's." She had thought the words innocent enough: she hardly doubted anyone outside the Opera House would know of the true identity of the composer of Don Juan Triumphant, but the boy immediately went pale and grasped at her wrist.

"What do you mean?" He asked urgently. "What do you know of Erik!" Ellisa stepped back in shock, and then, a sudden suspicion crossing her mind, she glanced back at the fine cut of the boy's clothing, and at his young, charming face.

"Before I answer that," she told him shakily, "I want to know who you are." The boy stepped back and released his grip on her arm.

"De Chagny, Madame, at your service." And he gave an ironical little bow. Ellisa groaned. And she'd thought things couldn't get any worse…

"Oh." She sighed. She knew who 'de Chagny', or more specifically Raoul de Chagny, was, too well. After her conversation with Roberto she had gone out to try and find all she could about the Christine affair. And she soon came to realise that it had not just been Erik's heart the young ingenue had captured… she had also courted the foolish young man who was standing in front of Ellisa now. Ellisa knew, in her heart of hearts, that if it came to a fight for the girl's affections between de Chagny and Erik the poor fop wouldn't have a chance.

"And you, Madame? I should like to know the name of Erik's 'friend'." Ellisa looked at him, surprised by the bitter force of his words. Perhaps she had underestimated the young vicomte…

"Ellisa Denuar, sir." She bobbed her head respectfully, and the young man nodded, still frowning furiously.

"And you know Erik… how?" Ellisa hesitated.

"That, Monsieur, is something I would rather keep to myself." She paused. "He is not as bad as everyone says, really." De Chagny snorted in disbelief, and shook his head.

"Then I don't think you knew him terribly well! The man is a monster, girl, but it seems he manipulated you into believing otherwise… much as he manipulated Christine."

And the boy glared out into the empty auditorium, as though the force of his furious gaze could draw the 'monster' out from wherever he was hiding. But then something happened which he did not expect. Ellisa slapped him.

"Don't you dare call him that, you stupid, spoilt little boy! He isn't a monster, he isn't… he can't be…" Her voice trailed off as her own fury dissipated, leaving just an empty futility in its wake. The truth she had been trying to deny most of her teenage years finally hit home to her: that however kind and gentle Erik had been to her, he still possessed that dark, cruel side from which 'O.G' spoke. She had seen 'O.G' thrice before: once, when he had struck her in pain and grief, secondly, at the masked ball when they had been torn from one another, and finally, on the steps of the Opera House after that second masked ball.

"Don't worry. He won't hurt you." She looked up as the boy put a hand on her shoulder, his face, still red from the blow she had dealt him, carefully set.

"I know." Ellisa replied, and with that stood up and swept gracefully from the box. Just before leaving, she turned back and nailed the boy with a serious stare.

"And de Chagny, on piece of advice: do not test Erik's will. There is nothing he will not do for love."

And she left, not waiting to hear the poor boy's response, and not waiting for him to see the pain that crossed her face as she remembered once more that the love 'her Erik' bore was not for her, but for Christine Daaé.

888

A/N: I just love Raoul. I feel he's rather hard done-by for most of the tale... and he's such a fop! Anyway, please tell me what you think! Too clichéd? Been done before? All comments are welcome (apart from really nasty ones).