Disclaimer: I own nothing... darn.

Ha, victory is sweet! So after a good long week of battling a nasty computer virus, mourning marching band, and rebelling against all things school, yours truly has FINALLY written an update. Took me long enough huh?

Replies:

Juilette Delphe: It's the magic of fiction Sumner; all those things you wish could happen kind of can in a make believe way. Eh, better dream impossible things than have no dreams at all, right?

Araiona Dubois: Share the wealth? For the sake of quoting my own story, "What is this… share?" Lol, of course I'll share. Erik! ---Erik emerges from closet—OMG! Erik's coming out of the closet! –Erik glares threateningly at Authoress and pulls Punjab lasso that he made out of coats from closet-- … ok, sorry; I couldn't resist a good moment to put a lame pun. Erik, dear, I am officially allowing this sweet reader to own you until the next update. Be good to her. – hands Araiona the Erik—Take good care of him, and remember to return him on time. The Erik must be dispensed evenly among fans.

Ariel: YES! I have recruited my own SISTER! Ha! I'm glad you like it Air, seriously I am, but do try not to get sucked into the whole fan fiction thing all together again… it consumes your life.

Opera Dove: I won't leave you stranded… I'll never let go Ja- alright, stopping myself from reciting movie lines. I'm glad you are liking the story so much though, and yes, poor Erik… he's a tough guy though, I think he can take the heat... hopefully… he's going to need to be able to.

Phantom'sJediBandieGirl: AH! Mondo opps on my part. Thanks for pointing that out to me. I swear I knew the 1800's was the 19th century on some level, but apparently my brain was inactive at the time being. Thanks for bringing that to my attention, and enjoying the story!

Alright everyone, thanks for the reviews- they make me happy. So, who wants to own Erik next? After Araiona's turn of course. Have fun Erik dear, and for you wonderful readers, here is the update that I shamefully delayed to do. Hope yall enjoy, and thanks!

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Chapter 3: Can We Keep Him?

How exactly do you tell a mentally unstable, shunned from society, middle-
aged man from the eighteen-hundreds that he has been brought against his
will to the twenty-first century?

Well...apparently Liv found it to be a rather simple task. She never was one
to beat around the bush with things like this, and so Liv didn't even bother
delivering the news gently. Moments after they tenderly explained to this
Phantom that they were most certainly not witches, Liv automatically jumped
into bluntly stating that he was not just simply transported from one
country, but in fact summoned to the year 2006.

Least to say, he didn't exactly take this news well. The first time the
girls tried to explain he became completely defiant to the idea, calling
them all insane and commanding them to return him home. When they explained
it a second time he proceeded to lead into a long lecture of how that was
not possible, so intent on proving it that he even sketched a short diagram
on a napkin for visual proof.

Ryder pointed to the pen he used for the diagram, "Well how do you explain
that? That is a ballpoint pen. Essentially, there is a ball in the pen's
point which controls the flow of ink-which is held in a cartridge. That
wasn't around in your time."

"Yea, and check out the emblem on the pen," Hope commented, pointing towards
the red Toyota logo printed into the plastic, "I'm certain Toyota wasn't
around in your time... in fact, were cars even around yet?"

Ryder looked at her friend and shrugged, "I think they did have cars
Hope...not like we have obviously...but they were there, or were just about
to be."

"Doesn't matter. Point is, technology has improved since then, which should
be clear proof that you aren't in the nineteenth century man," Ariel said,
nodding at various objects about the room.

The Phantom looked at them all, that look of complete disbelief still
lingering in his vibrant green eyes, "I still refuse to believe this
nonsense. Witchcraft is one thing, but time travel is another. Time travel
can simply not be done."

Ariel nodded and tried to convince him further, "Listen, uh... Phantom...
don't you think we realize how impossible time travel is? None the less
witchcraft in general? Even in our time these things are considered fake,
mythological... fictional! These sort of things only happen in novels and
movies, not reality... so trust us, we understand how unbelievable this
seems."

His violent eyes narrowed into a glare, then asked coldly, "Then how in the
name of hell do you explain this!"

Ryder stepped in, predictably trying to clear the situation up with a little
bit of useless information, "The same way Shakespeare figures everything:
there is a logical way this happened, but I'm too lazy to figure it out, so
I will chock it up to pretty poetry."

Liv leaned up from the sofa she had finally felt comfortable enough to sit
in and looked sideways at her friend, shaking her head at Ryder's
response. "I doubt Shakespeare had any experience with either time travel or
witchcraft," She paused, "And Macbeth doesn't count."

Liv paused to massage her temples, and then sighed as if she were exhausted.
She looked then to the supposed Phantom, staring him dead in the eyes.
Surprisingly her voice was a gentle understanding as she said, "Monsieur,
please believe us. We can not explain how this is possible, or think of a
way that this could be fixed, but I can assure you that you are in the
twenty-first century. There is plenty of proof all around you, and if this
is not enough than with mornings light you can see for yourself the world as
it is now. This is not the same time Monsieur, not the same world you are
used to."

The Phantom looked at all the strangers, deep in the eyes with his
tantalizing gaze, testing each. At last he sighed, resigning to the fact
that this 'Olivia' was right. Stiffly he admitted, "You are true in your
words. We must wait for dawn's break."

Liv couldn't help but smile at his etiquette, and looking to Ryder she said
in a whisper, "God, even simple things sound poetic with him."

Ryder smirked at her friend, "Tell that to Shakespeare."

Liv smirked, "Hey, if this spell works this good... maybe we could have the
chance to."

Ryder reminded Liv with a matter of fact tone, "We don't get to choose who
we bring back remember. It's fate, and what is closest to the holders soul.
Besides, Shakespeare's supposedly gay."

Liv scoffed and returned her attention to her friends who were all staring
at the Phantom in complete awe. The thought crossed Liv's mind that this was
probably the first time in his life that so many females had looked at him
with so much interest instead of fear. It was almost ironic if she thought
about it, that he was so unloved in his own time and so adored in hers...
but then again, didn't that happen to a lot of artists with time?

Phantom looked around at the interested faces staring at him in awe, and for
a moment the corner of his lips twitched uncomfortably. He cleared his
throat and straightened his shoulders, forcing himself to retain his
composure and control the situation as best as he could. With a slightly
stern tone he asked, "Well... what now?"

Ryder started; "Well, now..." and then she paused to glance helplessly at
Liv.

Liv stared back, the two attempting to read each others minds through a mere
look. Unfortunately, they weren't getting anywhere, so Liv did the only
thing she could think to do. "Well, now," Liv said, rising to her feet and
pointing to all the girls, "I am calling an emergency meeting in the
hall..." She glanced at the Phantom, "Girls only."

The Phantoms eyes narrowed in question, but all the other girls caught Liv's
meaning and rose to their feet. They all filed out the residence, entering
the dirty hall outside Ryder's apartment and closing the door behind them.

For a moment the girls stood silent in a small circle, each one asking
questions with their eyes alone. Liv opened her mouth once to speak, but
nothing came out so she closed it again. Ryder did the same a second later.
Hope managed to get out a whimper like groan, but that was about it. And
Ariel simply scratched her head.

By some subliminal law it was Cambria's time to speak, and all the other
girls looked to her, waiting for her failing attempt to say something.
Surprisingly, Cambria found the strength to speak, saying with a child like
enthusiasm, "So. Can we keep him?"

"Keep him?" Ryder shook her head, "This isn't some stray dog Tracey, he's
THE Phantom Of The Opera. It's not like we can feed him, put a collar on
him, take him out for walks and call him George. The chance of him playing
fetch with us is very unlikely as well, and lord knows if he is house
trained."

"Well what are we supposed to do with him? Why can't we just send him back?"
Hope questioned, a small hint of annoyance in her voice. This whole ordeal
was making them all on edge.

"Because to my knowledge there was no reverse spell," Ryder groaned, a tired
hand creasing her eyebrows.

"So, you had us work a spell that has no way to fix it?" Hope snapped
spitefully, "Oh that's a brilliant plan!"

Ryder immediately spat back, "Hey, it wasn't supposed to work, the shop
owner told me that. I didn't think there would be a need for a back up plan.
There wasn't supposed to be a need to fix anything. This whole thing wasn't
supposed to happen! It was supposed to be a game! So don't even start trying to place the blame on me!"

"Well you are the one who started this WHOLE THING!" Hope shouted back,
taking an advancing step forward.

Ariel stepped between the two girls at that precise moment, her hands raised
to stop either of them from moving any closer. "Chill out," She said, the
words a clear command, "Placing the blame on someone won't get us anywhere.
Our greatest defense at this point is sticking together, keeping this event
to ourselves, and trying to figure out a solution as a group. We brought
this man here together, and we have to find a way to deal with this
together. Besides, in this case, we are all at fault."

Ryder and Hope let up, both grunting their agreement with Air and stubbornly backing off. They made a silent truce with one another and only then continued on with the planning.

"So we can't send him back," Cambria said, recounting over their ordeal, "And we can't just release him into the wild… so what do we do with him?"

Ryder shrugged, "I guess just treat him like a house guest."

Cambria's eyebrows rose, "Obviously… but at whose house?"

Again the silence hung over the circle of girls like a rain cloud. The glances bounced between girls and dodged others eyes, but eventually all eyes came to land on one person.

…poor Ryder.

"No way!" Ryder barked, finally catching onto who they were all looking at, "I can't keep him! My parents are coming in town, and my land lady will try to charge me extra for another person! Not to mention, I'd be alone, in a small area, with HIM. Does anyone besides me remember that he has KILLED people?"

Liv nodded, "Ryder, I'm the most Phantom Of The Opera obsessed in this group, so of course I remember, but you know as well as I do that no one else can take him. Your parents are coming in a few days, yes this is true, but all of us except for Air still live with our parents, and Air can't take him."

"Why not?" Ryder screeched, looking at Air pleadingly.

Air sighed as if it were an obvious answer, "Because I live with two other people and on a campus swarming with college students. Most likely he'd either be found, stolen, lost, or arrested for one, not being a student, or two, being a middle-aged man in a non co-ed room."

"So?" Ryder squealed, her voice straining from the stress.

"So it can't be done. There are too many risks," Air answered.

Ryder's eye began to twitch from the frustration, and it was only a matter of minutes before Ryder exploded with, "But my parents are coming to town! My parents are…are… they're MILITARY!"

From someplace down the hall someone yelled from behind another apartment door a rather rude, "Shut up!" The whole circle of girls did the natural stressful thing and replied to in a stream of shouted curse words, in which there was no reply from the apartment's residence.

With that done, Liv returned her gaze to her seething friend and placed a comforting hand on Ryder's shoulder, saying softly, "Listen Ryder, you just have to house him for now. When your parents come, I'll take him off your hands, and when they go we can put him in your place again."

Some of the stress lifted from Ryder's eyes, and in its place came confusion, "But… your father doesn't let guys in your house. How will you be able to do that?"

Liv grinned, "Easy. Dad doesn't mind guys if he thinks they won't hit on his girls. I'd just tell him he's a friend of mine whose parents went on vacation, needs a place to stay, and conveniently is… gay."

The circle of girls gave a small snicker at the thought before slowly working their way back to being serious. At that precise moment Cambria's 'Mickey Mouse' watch beeped one o'clock and Hope's face suddenly displayed panic.

"Shit!" Hope cursed, grabbing Cambria's wrist to make sure it was right, "My parents expect me home right now! Air, can you take me home?"

Air nodded, "Yea, sure. Cambria, you coming? You said earlier you needed a ride."

"Yes please," She replied politely, and then looking to Ryder, "You going to be ok?"

Ryder took in a deep breath and nodded, "I'll be fine. Thanks for coming guys. Sorry this ended up such a mess."

"Don't worry about it," Air said, giving Ryder's shaking form a hug, "We'll figure this out… somehow."

Ryder nodded with uncertainty, but thankfully received comforting hugs from all three girls. The three also exchanged hugs with Liv, wishing her happy birthday with a half hearted smile. Before they left, Liv asked them once more not to mention what had happened to anyone, and they all agreed as expected.

Cambria replied with a playful grin, and a reciting of, "I solemnly swear."

Ryder caught on, "Yes I know all of us are up to no good-we never were."

"And never will be," Liv commented with a short laugh, and then smiling to the three girls, joked, "Now; be gone with your pests. We can only take so much of the Three Stooges."

As expected, all three girls groaned in defiance, but after some time everyone agreed. Each exchanged some hushed words as they exited, another series of hugs, and then finally
disappeared into the stairwell.

"Ya'll come back soon now, ya here?" Ryder called after them in a southern accent with a French twang-which sounds weird.

Liv smacked Ryder gently to somewhat tell her to get her accent in shape, and then returned to Ryder's apartment. She held the door open for Ryder to enter and then closed it after her. She sighed then, heavily, and looked at Ryder as if to say 'what now?'

Ryder shrugged. "Eat, drink, and be merry?" She responded to Liv's look.

Liv groaned and glanced at the neon clock on Ryder's wall, "It's one. We should get some sleep so we have the energy to deal with this tomorrow," She glanced to the Phantom, who was strangely still standing in the exact place they left him, "All of us."

Ryder nodded, "He can have the army cot in the spare bedroom. I'll take the couch-Liv you want my bed?"

Liv shook her head, "You can have your bed Ryder. I prefer the couch. I can't sleep in your bed... don't know why."

Ryder shrugged. "It's army grade. Translates to concrete. That's why."

"That'd be it," Liv groaned, and made her way back into the living room. She moved past Ryder and the Phantom slowly, and then plopped down on the couch like a fish, muttering something not understandable by either of the others in the room. She then very abruptly rose and looked to Ryder, "Need help setting the guest up?"

Ryder shook her head, "It's pre-made. Parents are coming in town soon for graduation." She walked to the linen closet opposite of the kitchen and pulled a pillow covered with hairy dogs swimming in puddles, and a fleece blanket with ducks, "Here," She handed them to Liv.

Liv took them with a nod of appreciation and placed them on the couch where she liked them. Once arranged she nodded with satisfactory but didn't lie down. Instead her eyes surveyed the Phantom curiously and still with slight disbelief. After so many years of make believe dreams, and all of a sudden he was there, right in front of her... and real... which was something she was still finding hard to accept.

Ryder also looked to the Phantom, but with less curious eyes. She handed him another pillow, this with Hawaiian girls dressed in grass skirts dancing on it-they were almost naked. She commented to the weird look her gave her when she handed it to him, "It'll be softer than the one that's in there."

Phantom then gave an understanding nod and said politely, "Thank you Mademoiselle for your hospitality."

Ryder pointed in the general direction of the spare bedroom then, standing stiff as a board with an irritated look on her face. Liv knew she was just playing protective- it was a trait they were both guilty of. Always the gentlemen, the Phantom gave a sweeping bow of thanks and a small mutter of goodnight to Ryder. He did the same towards Liv before retiring to the other room, closing the door softly behind him.

A few seconds after he left Liv looked to her friend and grinned comfortingly.

Ryder responded with a groan, "I think he thinks we're… odd."

Liv nodded her agreement, then questioned with slight amusement and a wicked grin, "You think he locked his door?"

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Thanks yall, hope you enjoyed and be back with an update soon. Hugs and thanks and all that jazz!