Another Angel: Chapter 3
A/N: Hello again to all the readers out there! I'm finally updating! After forever… No, I did not abandon you and leave you with 2 chapters. I just have a ton of writer's blocks. I think I know the basic plot setup I want, but it's filling the stuff in between the big events that I'm having problems with. Gaaah. I hate writing the filler stuff. And classes are starting again, but I'll still write, just infrequently. I'm going to have a goal of about one chapter per two weeks. And if I ever get out of this writer's block, one chapter per week. Thank you to all the reviewers. Black Rose 37, thank you for all of your tips, compliments, and plot ideas. :) This author note is getting pretty long…pretty soon, it'll be longer than the chapter, ;p So, I'll just acknowledge the other reviewers with tons of gratitude. SpeedDemon315, Katie, PhantomLover2005, Sister Of The Avatar, and MoonCat (my first reviewer. Yay!). Thank you so much for your flattering accolades! They made me feel special. I look forward to hearing from all of you again—or from anyone else that decides to comment. Without further ado, here's the next chapter. --AzIce
A/N #2: Or maybe there is some ado...I've been reading some other ppl's stuff and there is no disclaimer in my stuff. So, here goes. This is for all previous and all following chapters.I don't own Phantom of the Opera. That probably belongs to Gaston Leroux, Andrew Lloyd Webber and some other people that I'm forgetting. The story ideas are a combination of mine and any plot suggestions that may have influenced me. And that's all. So, without more ado, here's the chapter. --AzIce
The next morning at rehearsal, Reina found herself unable to concentrate because she was constantly wondering about the strange Phantom who had revealed himself last night. Even though the first performance of Carmen had been last night and the audience had enjoyed it, La Sorelli had been displeased and called for a rehearsal the next morning. This was a regular happening with all of the operas that they performed. La Sorelli was very detail oriented on every aspect of the opera.
"You there!" La Sorelli's voice snapped and Reina jolted out of her thoughts, suddenly realizing she had missed her entrance and it was her that Sorelli was talking to. "Why did you not come in? Are you sleeping?"
"No," Reina said hastily. "Sorry, signora. I was thinking about last night's performance."
"Well, maybe if you concentrated on what you were supposed to be doing, it would have been better last night," Sorelli retorted. "From the beginning of the act."
There were a lot of groans and Reina internally shared their sentiments. It would be another 15 minutes before she came in, but she knew better than to argue. But who could be expected to pay attention the entire fifteen minutes when all they were doing was standing backstage?
Reina tried as best she could, but got lost in thought again, though she made sure that she occasionally kept track of where they were in the opera. But as she got lost in thought again, she heard a word waft in the almost nonexistent breeze.
"Focus." She immediately recognized the voice. It was his.
She turned around, puzzled as to where his voice came from. "Did you hear that?" she asked the girl next to her.
The girl looked at Reina strangely. "Hear what? I can only hear Sorelli sing."
"Never mind," she replied, though she occasionally turned back to scan the shadows for him. 'Where is he? Or maybe I'm just imagining things…'
"Don't let your mind wander," she heard his voice come from behind again. "Your entrance is coming soon."
'He is here,' she thought as she watched Sorelli sing an apparently endless cadenza, though her mind was completely absorbed in her thoughts. The voice was right as well. Her entrance was just after the cadenza. 'But where?' she wondered as she scanned the darkness of backstage one last time before making her entrance.
Knowing that he was watching and critiquing her made her extremely self-conscious. She knew exactly where she was—and where she needed to be. Sorelli's approval didn't matter that much to her anymore—it was his approval that she was looking for now. She didn't know the reason why, but it just was. Maybe it was because that he was the fabled Phantom of the Opera which made it exciting. Or just the fact that she had a private instructor. Only the daughters of the wealthy could afford private, more exclusive coaches other than the ones at the opera house.
Three hours later, Sorelli released them from the grueling and tedious practice, only somewhat satisfied at the progress they had made. After that practice, madam Ellisa gave them free time until the performance that night. Normally, they would have immediately gone to ballet or vocal practice afterward for the rest of the day, but with all the havoc arriving with the Opera Populaire performers and staff, the opera house was in a confusing, messy state and Madam Elissa was always tending to other things.
Reina wanted to go down to the cellars to find him, but she knew better. Someone would see her go down there and wonder what she was doing. But she couldn't help wanting to go there—she was like a moth attracted to a flame. She went outside in hopes of putting him in the back of her mind. The fresh air actually helped her think of other things for a while. She engaged in some light conversation with girls from the Opera Populaire. She was actually curious as to what had really happened at their Opera House, but she didn't want to pry. A lot of them still seemed upset at the loss of their home.
That night, the performance went well. She felt that she performed better than the previous night and she received many congratulations, even from the girls at the Opera Populaire. And she, in turn, had to congratulate some people from the Opera Populaire. Sorelli had been displeased with some of the dancers and looked to the Opera Populaire dancers for replacements. They had to learn the part within that day, which Reina thought was amazing that they could pull it off, even if the part was small.
"You were great," a girl from the Opera Populaire said to her in the dressing room after the performance. Reina recognized the girl as one of the dancers that performed with them.
"Thanks," she replied. "You, too. You learn so quickly. It's amazing that you could perform it the same day that it was given to you."
The girl laughed slightly. "It's really not that amazing. La Carlotta always expected us to have our parts down by the end of the first rehearsal."
"She sounds like Sorelli," Reina remarked dryly. "She always seems to be dissatisfied with everything."
"Yeah," the girl agreed. "But after that whole thing with the Phantom of the Opera, Signora Carlotta left. I'm so glad. No more Carlotta bossing us around."
"What?" Reina asked. "The Phantom of the Opera?" she repeated, half shocked, totally disregarding the statement about Carlotta.
"Yeah," the girl replied. "He started appearing around the Opera house last year with these bizarre commands. Of course, the managers didn't listen to him. He ended up killing the main stage hand. And last night when we were performing, somehow, he replaced Piangi on stage. Christine took off his mask…and it was terrible! His entire face was so misshapen. He then brought the chandelier down and the whole Opera house caught on fire."
Reina was completely surprised and slightly horrified at what had happened to the Garnier Opera House and the events that led up to it. "That's horrible," she said. "Now I understand why so many people are so distressed about all of this. I'm sorry."
"It's alright. I'm sure everyone will be okay. And I'm positive that they'll start to rebuild it soon." She looked at a clock. "Well, I should be getting back to the dormitories. It's getting late. It was nice meeting you."
Reina nodded. "Yeah," she said, a smile on her face. The thought crossed her mind that the Garnier Phantom of the Opera and her Phantom of the Opera were the same person, but she quickly erased those thoughts. 'He wouldn't do that. He's the Angel of Music.' During the performance, she constantly heard his voice in the background, always giving words of encouragement. She couldn't wait until after everyone went to bed. She, again, would slip unnoticed to the fifth cellars to meet her angel.
A/N: Hm…I basically said everything that I wanted to say in the first author note. Maybe I should move the review acknowledgements down here next time. I know this is a bit of a letdown from the last chapter. I'm sorry. It's going to be some filler stuff right now unless you want to see a ton of "Later that day…" or "That night…". Don't worry, the big events are coming soon, but I think I'm going to have to insert a "one month later" thing…any objections? Oh…I actually had a question for everyone out there. I refer to Buquet as the "scene shifter." Because it's what he does, but it's probably not the right title…I just came up with a random name for it. If you know the title of the job that he does, please tell me and I'll change it eventually. You know, I just realized my title is alliterative. I'm such a dork...Somehow, I always end up writing the author notes in the middle of the night, so I apologize for any randomness that doesn't make sense. And I think that's all for now. So, I'll see you all in Chapter 4. --AzIce