Chapter One: The Arrival

Author's Note and Disclaimer: Eheh...yes yes, I am posting up a new phic. It is about how Meimu(er...Berg) knows the Phantom and how they first met and such. Gods...>> ;; I do not own any PotO character that might appear, and this is based off the 2004 movie.

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'Gods...what hit me...?' The thought bounced loudly through Berg's pounding head. Lesse...last thing she remembered was Lobowolf...er...and maybe a monkey. The shapeshifter looked down at herself and quirked a brow.

"Armadillo." She muttered to herself, her bandaged claws holding her head as she thought. "Why...am I an armadillo? I didn't even know I could turn into an armadillo. Wait...when could I start turning into an armadillo? Gods, my head!" She brought her head down between her legs as she shifted forms. Her armour like back plates shifted and became light fabric of the cotten variety as the brownish black skin underneath shaded drastically to a light apricot color which spread to color her whole body. The armadillo ears shrank and became rounded close to the head and dark brown hair sprouted out of her head and kept growing till about shoulder length. The completely black eyes could make her easilly identifiable by anyone who knew her became a creme color before soft violet irises lifted from the lower eyelids, speckled with a deep marron coloration. She now became recognizable as a human. She lifted herself in a rather dysphoric manner onto her feet and flexed the muscles of her new form. She glanced down and sighed in the same manner as she stood up with. Her belly had become round and she looked overweight. Damn it. She knew eating those twinkies was a bad idea! When her violet eyes looked up from her belly she caught her breath at the wonderous display of architecture and art. Her black shirt billowed forwards as a soft draft caught the light fabric, as did the flared part of her blue jeans. She glanced at her unbandaged normal looking hands for a moment before slinking off to the shadows to stake out her surroundings, bare feet making no noise once so ever. She had a good idea to who lived here due to the fact that there was a lake thing next to where she regained consiousness, but she just wanted to make sure. Something further up sparkled and caught her attention. Had I mentioned that she was a minor thief? No? Eheh...I didn't think so --'' Well, shiney things attracted her, because she was in fact, a thief.

Berg blinked somewhat before tilting her head. "Whoa...shiney creepy pipe thingies coming out of an oversized piano! Ohmigawd! I want...to...touch it." On saying that she drifted as close to the large insurment the shadows would allow before practically floating in a dreamy-like state the rest of the way. She squatted upon the bench and stared at the giant pipes sprouting from the top of the thing. "Must...touch...shiney things!" She mumbled to herself, reaching a hand towards them but soon it decended and dragged softly across the ivory and ebony keys. Of course, not being one to actually know how to play any insturment but a French Horn, she just sat there, reveling in the fact that she was in the lair of her most favorite obsession for the time being.

And then...stars, choking blackness and the lack of oxygen decended upon the shapeshifter.

She threw out a couple of garbled statements about something that involved breathing before reaching behind her. Her fingers came in contact with the back of a head and a cape. Damn. Nothing she could grab onto... ...hey! Wait a minute! She latched her fingers onto the cape and let out a gurgled snarl of very inappropriate words. Her violet eyes flickered with a bone-numbing evil before the voice of the one trying to kill her whispered into her ear. Her...human...ear. Damn!

"What are you doing here, girl?" The voice hissed. At that, Berg felt as if she would melt into a muddle. Well...if it wasn't for the fact that she was getting punjabbed. Or...whatever. She pulled one hand from the cape and pointed at the rope about her throat, signalling that she couldn't talk. As quick as thing had slipped about her neck, the noose was gone and being twirled by the man whom had used it. Berg had released the cape as he took a step back and she turned, eyes narrowed death slits at the half-masked man. He wore a white ruffled shirt, half opened, and black trousers with his black shoes and his cape. I personally don't think he looks good in his current outfit when accompanied by his cape, but that's just me. The right half of his face was covered by a white mask...er...yah...

"What am I doing here? What are you doing here, scary man?" She paused and blinked twice. "Oh...wait...you live here. I knew that." She paused once more and yawned widely. Apperently she had no manners and didn't care about the murder standing about two feet infront of her preparing his lasso. Soon Berg would speak again. "I have no idea what i'm doing here, monsieur. I woke up not to long ago over in that general direction. Now, if yah please, monsieur, I am not a girl." She tilted her head the slightest at the strange looke she was recieving and looked down upon herself. She was still human. Hell! Wasn't she supposed to be an otter!

"Well, mademoiselle, if you are not a girl, what are you? Certainly not a woman." His comment made her face shift to the shade of a rose, maybe a shade lighter.

"You have no right to speak there, mosieur!" She spat in a rather scary-voice thing. "I usually don't look like this! But now that I see myself, yes, I am a female. And I am not a girl! I am seventeen! So...go...blow it out yer nose." She growled. And then she regreted it. 'Damn! Why am I acting like this? He's like...bigger then me!' her mind shouted at her. "Damn. Well, I'm Berg, I guess. And you're Erik, the resident Opera Ghost." She nodded and dropped from the bench before holding her head once more. "Arg...hold on a tic...need to go dunk mah head..." She growled in a rather oncoherent manner before moving sure-footedly towards the lake thing, bare feet slapping angrilly against the stone.

Erik, the man she had nearly been killed by a few minutes prior practically screamed in anger. Who was this Berg person, how did she get in his lair, and how did he know his name? He didn't tell anyone! He followed her silently to the lake before he witnessed her leap willingly into the lake and then pull herself back up onto shore before growling lowly. "Zut!" she cursed, hauling herself into a standing position. "Why can't I...!" She didn't finish her statement for her eyes had picked up Erik's movements. She blinked and her left eyes twitched before she strolled up to him, hands behind her back and a fake smile plastered over her face in an effort to mask the fury she felt at not being able to shift forms.

"Excuse me, Monsieur Erik. I need a place to stay for the time being. I have a terrible head injury and can't do something that is really important to me." She said in a rather soft voice. "Do you possibly have a small crevise or small unused room I can perhaps stay in?" Her eyes flickered at Erik's pondering expression.

"Why should I house you? You invaded my home and touched my organ, and besides there are spare rooms up in the Opera House. Go use one of them."

"Mais non! Mais non monsieur! Do you wish death upon me!" She questioned, her eyes wide, the conflicting emotions of hate and fear clashing visibly through the maroon speckled violet eyes. Erik looked her over once more and quirked his visible brow.

"Perhaps. Why do you think to ask me such a question?" He hissed once more, eyes narrowed.

Berg pointed up and blinked. "You expect me to go up there, in all my strange insane glory and as for a room? If I did so and regained what I lost, I would be..." She broke from her sentance and stared down at the ground, mumbling incoherently. Erik blinked and placed his punjab lasso in the pocket he usually kept it in.

"You would be...what?" He questioned. Berg sniffed aggitatedly at his question. "I dunno! But it wouldn't be pretty! It would be worse then what they would do to you if they ever caught you." She pointed out aggrivatedly, pointed to the mask adorning the Opera Ghosts' face. He blinked and rolled his shoulders absently. Berg could tell he was thinking it over. A few moments later the Opera Ghost sighed and crossed his arms.

"I know I'm going to regret this somehow...fine...you may stay here. There is an unused room over there you can use." He said, pointing in the general direction of the room.

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Phantoms' Lobo: Ehehe...yes, very bad Oo And I am not all that sure there is a small room that is unused, so I'm just making it up -.-'' Maybe it's just a really big hole in the wall with a door! I dunno... >>;;