A/N - Aloha dear readers! Here is another installation in the story. I'm trying to slow things down a little bit for several reasons. First, because the story is well over half over, and I feel rather attached to all of these characters. I'm reluctant to give them up. Sniff.

Secondly, because I want the tempo to change a bit.

Now. Thank you for all of the wonderful reviews. I'm so excited that there are new reviewers (Such as CherylCatherine). Let's all give them a hand. Applause

Thanks to my regulars. I enjoy your words immensely, my little musettes.

Echo. Where are you? Le sniff.

Oh, and Angelic - The other story is called "Enigmatic Darkness" and is basically a prelude to this story. :)

The heavy moisture that filled the tunnels was stifling, and before they had traveled too far all three felt as though the dark and damp walls were moving. In fact, it felt as though they were being entombed. When Elizabeth could take the silence no longer, she spoke – her soft voice trembling.

"Mama?"

Christine was in a quandary all her own. She felt rather uncomfortable in another man's arms. Nicholas held her securely against his chest, and did not struggle in the least with her weight. She found, however, that her awkward position could only be relieved if she looped her slender arm about his neck. The position reminded her all too clearly of his father, and being held in much the same way. Reflexively, she allowed her head to rest against his shoulder. It halted the uncomfortable jostling tremendously.

"Yes?" She replied quietly.

"What will you tell him?"

Both women knew of whom Elizabeth spoke, and Christine did not have the words to answer. She had not decided yet, but in her panic and worry for Erik's life she had been convinced that the words would come to her. They always did.

Christine did not have time to answer. Suddenly the scuffling of their own feet and their own labored breathing was not the only sound that filled the dark cavern. They could hear the grunts of men and hushed whispers, the familiar clank of a rifle against belt loop, and an occasional cough. Raoul and his men were, if nothing else, announcing their presence.

"Papa!" Elizabeth cried out. All of the noise ahead of them ceased, and Nicholas could imagine them straining to hear her.

"Raoul!" Christine cried as well, suddenly overwhelmed and longing to be in her husband' arms. That was an odd sensation, one she had not felt for many years.

The trio could hear Raoul barking orders, and the flourish with which they attempted to locate them. Nicholas tensed beneath Christine, his arms tightening a bit.

"Tell them to stop," he murmured quietly.

"What?" She queried, attempting to look up at him through the darkness.

"The traps, Madame. They will fall into them. Only Elizabeth can navigate these tunnels without fail."

Christine bristled at his wisdom. Despite her hesitancy, she called out.

"Raoul! Please, be still. We will come to you."

"Christine!" Raoul called back, within speaking distance. The approach did not cease.

"Tell him," Nicholas urged again.

"Raoul, stop! The traps! Please!"

Finally silence filled the narrow tunnels. Elizabeth glanced back toward her mother, and Nicholas. She was obviously filled with fright, and weak from the entire ordeal. Nicholas smiled at her, as tenderly as he could manage in the given situation. He knew that Elizabeth was in a weak state and needed him, no matter how headstrong she was, or valiant she pretended to be. The smile was all the encouragement she needed. She turned back to the task at hand, leading them through the tunnels as if she had lived in them half of her life. Before long, they could see the glimmer of a lamp ahead.

Raoul dashed headlong towards them, sweeping Elizabeth into his arms.

"Oh! Little Beth, are you well? Has he harmed you? I swear to you, my darling, I will kill him." So angry and bitter was the Vicomte that he did not consider his words before he spoke. He did not think of how they might affect his delicate daughter, or how crude they really were. Elizabeth blanched, pulling away that she may look up into his face. Her resolve crumbled, and she began to weep. Raoul stroked her hair and whispered comforting words into the mass of curls. He lifted his gaze beyond Elizabeth, as Nicholas stepped out of the shadows with his wife in tow.

Raoul gently disentangled himself from Elizabeth, and stepped forward. His gaze narrowed as he regarded Nicholas, who bore a stark resemblance to the beast of their past. Also, half of his face was masked and the scene was too familiar.

After a moment of this, he glanced to Christine. Her face was white and she appeared so weak. He reached for her, and Nicholas gladly shifted her weight into her husband's arms. Christine cringed as she was handed off, her wounds being aggravated in the shuffle.

"Oh, my love. Christine. What has happened?"

Christine found herself staring into the deep orbs of her husband, filled only with love and worry. How many years had she neglected this affection? Christine flushed beneath the weight of her shame, burying her face in his chest. He turned without a word to Nicholas, and began the long ascent toward the surface. Elizabeth lingered, reaching for Nicholas' hand.

Nicholas accepted, allowing all of the officers and the Vicomte to march ahead. He hesitated, drawing Elizabeth's hand to his lips. There he placed a soft kiss in her palm, and then upon each fingertip. Elizabeth was caught off guard, and turned to smile up at him. He returned the gesture, and reached to cup her cheek.

A kiss followed, Nicholas dipping his head to taste the ambrosia upon her lips. A breathless moment later, he released her suddenly.

"Go," he urged, his voice husky with a desire she stirred within him.

"What? No. Come with me.."

Nicholas cast a glance over his shoulder, and then looked back to the petite woman before him.

"I must return, Elizabeth. Not forever. I have to talk with him, more. He is my father."

Elizabeth frowned. A part of her was angry with his words. How could he regard such a monster with anything but hatred? He had nearly killed her father, and mother, and seduced and abducted Elizabeth in her own dreams! Surely all of this was his fault. How could he leave her to be with such a man?

Elizabeth remembered the hushed words spoken by her mother, and Erik. Realizing that her family had injured that pitiful monster nearly as much as he had theirs, she sighed in defeat. Tears pooled in her eyes.

"Promise, Nicholas. To return."

Nicholas smiled. It was a full, charming smile. The disarming kind that made Elizabeth feel weak and caused butterflies to stir within her stomach. She could not help but smile back.

"I promise."

And with that, he was gone. The shadows swallowed him as easily as they did his father, and she could not even hear his footfall as he departed. Elizabeth stared after him for a long moment, and then turned to follow after her parents.