Hello, my lovelies! Wonderful to see you all again, I must say. I thought I'd just like to note that this story is AU, but only in the sense that although some events/situations/etc from the movie/books/etc does happen, they don't happen at the same times/places. Just for an example, Erik… er, darn it all, I can't give you any examples or else I'll ruin the story.
But just take my word for it.
Disclaimer: I do not own Erik, but Erik owns me. I don't own anything else PotO-related, either, except for a book, a DVD, and a piano book.
Two.
Nadir Khan was a good man.
Oh, there were plenty of people who claimed to be "good men", but Nadir was a genuinely, sincerely, without a doubt in anyone's mind; he was a good man.
How on earth did he end up working at Aiguilles Inc.?
Nadir was a manager, to be precise, but he mostly received and assembled the orders. Actually, it was a manager's job to gather the instructions. He was one of the people who made sure that each request was given to the right employee, and that the requests did not go astray. Confidentiality was very important in a fickle business such as this.
Each manager (although they were more commonly known as "filers") is paired up with one employee. Sometimes, two or three employees are assigned to one filer, but it is usually a one to one ratio.
Nadir sighed, crossing the room to the large metal cabinets. He flicked at the lock with a key, and pulled the top one open. He rifled through the thick folders within, efficiently flipping until he reached a particularly stuffed folder. It was marked with a simple Phantom in the tab. He briefly pushed up his brown mask, just long enough to rub his eyes.
He lifted it out, nearly dropping it as a few loose-leaf pages slipped from between the open sides. Nadir staggered back and dropped the file on to a desk.
The rooms that stored all the folders for all the employees were shaped more like long halls than an actual room. Cabinets lined the walls, and there were large desks set up at intervals, along with chairs.
Nadir dropped heavily into a chair, and wearily opened up the file.
"How many new requests does he have?" another filer called to him from across the room. Nadir glanced up, smiling wryly.
"More than any of us could handle, I'm sure," was his flat, but amused reply.
The other laughed. "You sound irritated, Kashan!"
"It's certainly quite annoying to be putting all these in order, Canine, you know that," he said, not looking over as he carefully rearranged the requests, in alphabetical order.
Even the managers went by codenames.
"Canine" strolled over, after he organized the requests for his own assigned partner. He had a dog-shaped mask. Creativity did not run high in this department.
"Really, Kashan, you should be happy; what they pay you is certainly worth the trouble." His dark green eyes twinkled as he sat himself down beside the Persian. "So, satisfy my curiosity, who's on his list first, this time?"
Nadir looked up in irritation.
"You know these files are confidential," he scolded, tugging the papers closer to prevent Canine from peeking at any of the names.
"I know, I know," he sighed, leaning back in his chair, "but you could just give me a—"
A hand descended lightly down on Canine's shoulder, its presence accompanied by an icy voice. "I don't think so, monsieur."
Canine jerked in surprise, and Erik smiled down carelessly at him. Canine broke into another wide grin.
"Phantom! You scared me."
"I have that effect on many people," Erik said peacefully, which caused the man to laugh quietly.
"You're horrible, Phantom, you really are." Still chuckling, Canine took his leave, which left the room empty save for the Phantom and the Kashan.
Erik sat down idly by Nadir, who glanced up in amusement.
"I fail to understand if Canine is merely impaired, or moronic."
The Persian went back to double-checking the files. "You have the best conversation starters," he said sarcastically, sliding a few pages towards him.
Erik let out an indifferent huff of breath, and unhurriedly lifted the top page, letting his gaze roam down the request. Every request came in a sheet that was filled out by hand, giving the necessary information.
Request for: Please write legibly. the Phantom.Fatality Name: Full name is required. Christine Daaé.
Age: 16.
Sex: Female.
Reasons: Enclosed.
"Where's the envelope?" he said, at length, glancing under the pages.
"Eh?" Nadir blinked, and rummaged around as Erik gestured to the word "enclosed". "Oh, wait, I put that with the…" He held up a small envelope, labeled "Phantom; Confidential".
Erik took it from him, and leaned back in his chair. Nadir looked over curiously for a few seconds before returning to his work.
The Phantom casually tugged out the letter and set about reading it. He wrinkled his nose. There were spelling mistakes all over the place, and the writing was in a childish scrawl. There were also a few blots of ink here and there.
"Disgusting," he muttered to himself.
To the Phantom,
Well over a decade ago, Gustave Daaé promised to bring liberty and recognition to the Gypsy clans across France. We have been treated for ages like dogs! Like the dregs of society! It has at last come to this and we will not stand for it any longer.
A deal was made with Monsieur Daaé.
Erik sat up with mild interest now.
He had much influence at the Opera Museum, and promised to bring to us the Saint Diamond. With that Diamond we would have been able to ask for the help of the Endless. Yes, Phantom! We would have asked for help from one of the most powerful of the seven—Death! We would have begged at her feet for her to rain revenge and fear and
Erik paused, wrinkling his nose. Most of the letter was rambling about Death and Delirium and Despair, all with capital Ds. But the mention of the Saint Diamond had intrigued him greatly; there was a great legend that surrounded that rock-sized jewel. He who wields the Diamond is He who may Answer to Death. Erik hardly believed in such tall tales, though. He skimmed the rest of the letter until the last few paragraphs.
He broke the deal. He ran from the country with his wife, and we cursed him. Yes, we placed a terrible curse upon him. He was to live for only another 2, 666 days after his wife would die in childbirth.
Three years later, his wife died, after giving birth to a girl. Seven years after the girl's birth, Gustave died.
It was good enough for my uncle. But it is not good enough for me! I leave the last task to you, Phantom. Kill the girl. But she must suffer; she must suffer beyond anything she could possibly endure. Do what you will with her.
Enclosed is fifty thousand francs, the required deposit. The other half I shall deliver in person when your task is completed.
- D.
Erik leaned back in his seat in reflective silence for a while, and then pulled towards him the background information of this Daaé girl.
"There's a picture too," Nadir piped up, glancing up and sliding over a photo. It was an old photo, taken perhaps four years ago. Erik stared down at the picture, and the girl in the picture seemed to stare back at him. She had somewhat dreamy-looking brown eyes, and long brown curls. He made a thoughtful sound, critically picking up the photo.
"We were not given any recent pictures?" he prompted, narrowing his eyes at the photo.
"No, sorry, but that should be enough. I don't think there's many girls with curly brown hair at the Opera House."
"She works there?"
Nadir shrugged. "She's a chorus girl. It's all in the information sheet, just read that."
Erik obliged, falling silent as he read over the sheet of paper that would tell him enough about the girl to ensure a simple death.
"I'm supposed to make her suffer," he said casually, tapping his fingers against the table idly as he took in the data about Mademoiselle Daaé.
"Really? This seems to be a bit personal, then?"
"Evidently so," Erik mused, "she is terribly naïve."
"Who? The Daaé girl?" Nadir looked mildly interested.
Erik nodded slowly, and read out quietly from the sheet in his hands. "At sixteen years of age, Christine Daaé still clutches desperately to the Scandinavian fairy tales that her father used to read to her. Upon his deathbed, Gustave promised to send her an Angel to protect her once he was gone. Being a musician with a musically orientated child, Christine was promised an Angel of Music. It has been nine years since her father's death, but Miss Daaé still believes in this Angel."
Nadir smiled indulgently. "She is only sixteen, after all."
"Only." Erik made a vaguely dubious sound at the back of his throat, and read the rest of the sheet in silence. It had all the data he would need, of course; where she lived, her schedule, the people she usually hung around with, the people close to her, etc.
Erik considered the information carefully, a plan forming in his mind. She must suffer beyond anything she could possibly endure.
"Nadir," he said quietly, almost inaudibly.
The Persian's gaze snapped up and he hissed in an equally near-silent voice, "For heaven's sake, don't use my real name here, do you want to give me a heart attack?"
Erik smirked lightly.
"Nadir," he said again, in a slightly sing song voice, teasing his companion.
The Persian slammed the folder shut.
"Erik," he said tensely, his voice a severe whisper, "you have known me long enough to know that I will end up obeying whatever capricious request you give me, so stop toying with me!"
Erik chuckled lazily. "I need roughly a year or two to kill this child."
Nadir stared blankly, uncomprehendingly at him. "Yes… I will give you two years off, but… you need two years to kill the girl?"
Erik smiled; Nadir shuddered.
"Yes," he said softly, "I believe Miss Daaé should be well acquainted with her Angel of Music before he kills her, don't you think?" The Persian's eyes widened, in horror, at this subtle rhetorical question.
"Erik," he whispered, quite forgetting about codenames, "you would do that? You would bring her most desired dream to life, and then extinguish it? That is betrayal beyond betrayal… you would do that?"
Erik smiled again. "She must suffer," he pointed out, apparently uninterested with the Persian's reaction, "I am merely fulfilling my duties, in a somewhat creative manner that puts my, ah, talents to use. Do you not agree?"
"It's—creative, yes," Nadir said, flabbergasted, "but it's so cruel."
"Oh, Nadir," Erik sighed lightly, "don't tell me you have suddenly sprouted a conscience."
"You know very well that I have always had a conscience, Erik…"
"You should do well to curb it, then."
Nadir looked somewhat stern. "You have a conscience, too."
Erik didn't say anything for a while, apparently engrossed with rereading the information sheet. When he finally looked up, there was an odd expression in his eyes.
"Yes," he said quietly, "but I choose to ignore it."
He collected the information papers on the Daaé girl efficiently, and tucked them into his pocket. "Pleasant conversing with you, Kashan, I shall see you around." He stood up and nodded curtly. Nadir had no choice but to lift a hand in a half-hearted farewell gesture, and watch as Erik quietly left the room.
That Daaé girl was in for it, now.
Yes, he had to learn how to keep his conscience at bay; consciences were not good when you worked with people like Erik. Nadir sighed fretfully, and began writing a letter requesting a two-year "break" for Erik.
The Phantom made his way back to his office. He eased into the room, and settled down into his chair, laying out the papers before him.
He flipped through the sheets until he had found the photo, and he lifted it up for inspection again.
"Christine Daaé," he repeated thoughtfully, pursing his lips.
A/N: And we finish another chapter… oh, tension! I just want to remind everyone that no one at Masquerade Inc. knows of other people's first names. But Erik and Nadir knew each other personally before they ended up working at M. Inc. Just wanted to note that to save any confusion beforehand.
I also want to say—remember the A/N at the beginning of the chapter when I said that some events from the canon happens at different times in this story? Well, now as you can see, Erik does "discover" Christine, but she is sixteen instead of seven. That's just one example. Stick with me until the next chapter; please leave a review! (: