MIDNIGHT-PIXIE: Thank you, thank you, thank you!
Teya Yashitoda: I would love to, but you didn't give me your full email address. What comes after ?
angel of mystery: I think I will. Thanks!
Phantom of the Fuedal Era: I noticed that in my summary, but I guess I forgot that I had written fifty in the prologue. It has been fixed. Thanks for pointing that out!
Phantomsheart: Thanks. I'll try, but I'm kinda winging it at the moment, so Im not sure what happens too far ahead!
On with the story!)
And what of this heir? Would Erik's plans go well? There was no need to ponder over this question. It had already happened.
Erik, being the madman he was, did not want his rein of terror to slacken even though he was dead. It would be too much work to come back as a real ghost, if that was at all possible. He was just going to have to find an heir. It would be easy. He had a plan. Before he died, he traveled much, stopping once to visit Christine and her young husband to tell her of his plan.
One day, far from Paris, he sat to rest upon an empty field. There were sheep grazing not far away, and a young shepherd boy sitting under a tree. the boy had not seen Erik. The ex-ghost watched with growing curiousity. The boy was nervous, that was obvious. He looked from side to side, tapping his staff against the ground with a beat that was kept perfectly in time. The dog beside him sat up, growling, then barking monstrously. Erik turned to look in the direction the dog was howling, and saw a wolf. It was rabid, for sure. Foam dripped from its open maw, and it would stop, look around as if confused, then charge once more. The boy, not knowing what to do, ordered the dog to attack the wolf.
Loyal to his master, the little collie attempted a go at the massive wolf. It stood no chance. In a giant sweep of the wolf's neck, it bit down hard on the dog's neck and the poor mutt's life seeped away with its blood.
The boy now was very frightened, but he couldn't let his sheep die. It was his duty to protect them. Without this job his mother would be very angry with him. So he stepped forward, waving his stick about to try and scare the wolf away.
Now, a normal wolf would have shied away long before, but this wolf was diseased and rabid, and reason had disappeared. Before Erik's eyes the wolf attacked the little boy.
Erik was there in a flash, and he pulled the Punjab lasso around the wolf's neck quickly. He yanked the beats away from the boy and broke its neck in a matter of seconds.
The boy was laying on the ground, blood pouring from one side of his face. It seemed that fortunately the wolf had clawed his face instead of biting him, which would have passed the rabies to him. Erik knelt down beside the boy, wiping away the blood gently with a rag.
"What is your name?" he asked gently, kindly. He had his mask on, and the boy wasn't too frightened.
"Oliver, monsieur."
Erik thought about it for a moment. It was a nice name, he decided after a bit.
"Come, let me bandage your face."
Oliver sat up, and Erik dabbed at his face ever so gently. His whole right side was cut and bloodied, and that side's eye would not open.
"Can you open your eye, Oliver?"
The little boy gasped in pain as his whole faced twitched at the task of opening that eye. Erik smiled sadly when he saw that eye. It was torn. He would never be able to see through it again.
After he had tied his handkerchief around he held out his hand to help the little boy up.
"How old are you, Oliver?"
"I'm five, monsieur."
"Do you like music?"
Oliver's face lit up, and he smiled despite the pain in his face.
"Oh, yes! Very much! I don't get to sing very much, though... my mother doesn't like it."
Erik smiled secretly. "She shouldn't do that. Would you like to go somewhere where you can sing anytime you like? I could teach you how to play the harp, and the violin."
Oliver jumped up and down, now very excited. "Oh, I would love to, monsieur! But would my mother allow it? And who will watch the sheep?"
Erik gently took the boy's hand.
"I'm sure she won't mind. As for the sheep, someone else will care for them. Don't worry."
And so Erik took the boy to the new opera house and showed him all of the secret passageways. He started him on the violin, and gave him brief singing lessons. But before long, Erik's sick heart could barely go on, and he had to die soon. By now Oliver was blossoming well, and his musical talents were unbelievable. He reminded Erik of a young him.
And so Erik had an heir, and that heir was to guard Don Juan Triumphant above all else. Above all else except his heart. Erik's lasts words to Oliver were advice. Advice that was ignored.
"Do not give your heart to anyone, little one. A did once, and it ended in madness and sorrow. Keep to yourself, and improve this opera house in small ways. But never, ever fall in love."
That advice had been forgotten as soon as Oliver saw Diane.
(done. One more thing: I've been thinking of the movie's Erik, and not the more horrible ghost that is from the book. Just wanted you to know.)