Disclaimer: I (regretfully) own nothing Phantom. Leroux, Webber, and Kay all own it…lucky stiffs.
AN: This chapter I totally made up on my own about what happens between the Rooftop scene and the Masquerade. It's supposedly a "peaceful" time for the Opera House, but I promise no dull moments for this chapter! To find out more, you must read. Enjoy, and please review!
Chapter 13: A Time for Peace and Surprises:
Things became unusually quiet and peaceful following the (somewhat disastrous) night of Il Muto.
Normally by the time the Populaire was ready to put on a new show, a thousand different things would have gone wrong, especially when it might require the 'talents' of La Carlotta. It had become a tradition to expect something to go wrong from the very moment a new opera was chosen and the parts were assigned to members of the cast. Some singers had even developed a routine of avoiding the center of the stage just so they were not innocently tangled in the Phantom's anti-Carlotta attacks.
This time, however, just to be safe, the managers had decided to put on a unique production, just newly arrived from Russia called Swan Lake. The unusual thing about Swan Lake was that it was a purely ballet performance. As was expected, the singers were not as happy about the whole thing. However, they remembered how the Phantom had caused Carlotta to 'croak' onstage, and therefore refused to protest the managers' choice. It was also needless to say that the dancers were thrilled to have something that everyone in the corps de ballet could be in, and that they would all get to wear a beautiful costume while onstage. But never could anyone put aside the looming thought of the Phantom possibly reappearing to torment them, causing all of the performers to keep an eye open.
As preparations got underway, the cast and crewmembers were astonished by one significant thing: they were able to prepare for a performance without having destroyed props, torn backdrops, or interrupted rehearsals. Ballet rats were surprised to find that they experienced no pranks or 'hauntings' on their walks to and from their dormitories, and eventually stopped traveling in small packs for safety. Monsieurs Firmin and Andre were also puzzled (but relieved) to receive no demands from the Ghost for money, nor cruel notes filled with mocking words against them or Carlotta.
In a word, things were unusually happy for most of those dwelling within the Populaire, and many hoped that it would last. Even Christine and Raoul who were, in a way, a bit uneasy about the sudden disappearance of the menacing specter, but their fearful feelings soon disappeared from the minds of the two lovebirds. In fact, the only people concerned about the Phantom and his obvious absence were Madame Giry and Marie Daae.
It was clear to everyone that the ballet mistress was more irritable than she had been prior to the Il Muto performance. She worried over everything, from the dancers to the singers, and did her best to check that everyone was where they should be. If anyone was late to work, Madame would question everyone as to the missing person's whereabouts until she either had the answers she was looking for, or that person appeared for their job. Finally, the cast and crew all did their best to please Madame as much as they could, and always let her know what they were doing and where they were going. This mostly satisfied Madame, and therefore, pleased everyone else who didn't have to listen to a lecture on a daily basis.
Marie, on the other hand, worried for her sister and dear Raoul more than anyone else. She feared what Erik might do now that Christine had another man's love and attention, as well as Marie's consent on the matter of the Vicompt wooing the young soprano. So, in order to keep them all safe, Marie had asked Raoul to take her and Christine to one of his homes in the city. It might have been easier to simply have Christine leave so that Marie could talk try and talk to her masked friend, but the older girl doubted that Erik would be willing to speak to her or see reason. So, after Il Muto had concluded, Marie had called Christine, Raoul, Madame Giry, and the managers into a private café so that they could talk without fear of being overheard. Once everyone was settled, Marie had proposed her plan of moving her and Christine away from the wrath of the Ghost and into a house belonging to the de Chagny family. She believed that the move would be temporary, at best, and would only go on until either the Ghost calmed down or she could protect Christine better than she could now.
Madame Giry and the managers had made fervent protests against the plan due to the scandal that might erupt in the papers, but Raoul promised that the only people living in that house would be the Daae sisters and the household servants. He had then sworn on his honor and that of his family that he would not enter the home during the sisters' stay there, that he would always ask to meet them in public so as to avoid any sort of scandal. Reluctantly, Madame Giry agreed to this, if only to keep the two girls safe from harm. The girls then moved their things out of the Populaire and into the de Chagny townhouse, which stood half a mile down the road.
Upon their arrival, Raoul had given them (as well as Madame Giry, who was there as a chaperone) a tour of the house and introduced them to the servants. A series of arrangements were made so that Marie and Christine could get to the Opera House so that Marie could work and Christine could practice for her dance role in Swan Lake. Meanwhile, Madame could visit the townhouse once a week on Sunday to check on the girls and to bring news on what they might have missed. Once the girls were settled, Raoul and Madame had bid them 'good day' and left them to their own devices.
Living way from the Opera House had brought a mixture of feelings to the two young Daae sisters. Christine was ecstatic about their move into a fine house, and had spent a whole day exploring all that Raoul's family's home had to offer. She was enchanted by the elegant air the building had, and everything held some new sort of wonder for her. Her room was a soft rose-petal pink, her favorite color, and had everything a young woman could possibly need. The servants were kind to her and did their best to serve her all of her favorite foods and to entertain her.
In contrast, Marie sorely missed the Populaire. Although she was driven back to the Opera House in order to help with the costuming of the dancers, Marie felt as though she were missing half of the fun that went on during the chaos of pre-production. Since Swan Lake was to be a danced display, Madame Giry wanted to be the only instructor for the corps de ballet, leaving Marie to focus only on helping the costume mistresses with their work. Stuck alone in a back room all day, Marie missed the dark creative atmosphere that it had, and all of the wonderful things that were talked about or worked on when preparing for a performance. Most of all, Marie missed helping the dancers with their steps and listening to their troubles. Before leaving the Populaire, she had thought them troublesome (at best), but now she missed being useful to someone. Sewing costumes could only keep a person occupied for so long before it drove them insane, so Marie was forced to take long periods of rest while working on the outfits. However, it was always during her work breaks that the dancers were all busy onstage, leaving her with nothing to do except watch the other workers do their tasks.
'I am not fit for the idol life of the wealthy or the noble,' she had thought after her first two weeks at the de Chagny manor. 'I need to work, to be doing something with myself, or I will lose my mind!'
Christine, on the other hand, greatly enjoyed being in a home of the aristocracy, though it did nothing to changer her sweet temperament. The young soprano took an almost childish delight in being able to do anything she wanted, whenever she wanted without someone (except her sister) watching her. She did not live in fear at being cornered by a stagehand and his unwanted advances, nor did she any longer have to worry about the Opera Ghost haunting her footsteps. Plus, Christine was able to go out and happily be wooed by her childhood friend and sweetheart.
Finally, the production of Swan Lake was over and done with, remarkably without a single mishap. The audience had loved the gracefulness of the dancers, the beauty and sparkle of the costumes, and the wonderful music that had accompanied it. Money was pouring into the Opera House without the Ghost taking any of it away, the cast and crew were joyous at no longer being haunted, and Christine and Raoul had progressed their romance in an almost fairytale manner. Life was good.
However, as everyone knows, all good things must, eventually, come to an end…
Running his fingers through his greasy dark hair, Erik pulled his hand free of the tangled mess and realized that he hadn't bathed in over a week. Groaning, he buried his face in his hands, the papers before him crinkling under his elbows.
For two months they had been gone from the only true home they had known. Two months since he had seen Marie and Christine running through the hallways of the Populaire, laughing and sharing stories with each other and the ballet rats over tea and cookies. How empty the Populaire was without them…
'That does not matter,' he mentally snapped to himself. 'You have a plan to get them back where they belong!'
Yes, he had a plan, but waiting for the opportune moment to act on it was difficult. In all his years of life, Erik had done his best to become a patient man, especially when dealing with either Marie or Christine. Now, with no reason to keep his actions in place, he was eager to act out on those who had robbed him of what was rightfully his.
Rubbing his hands over his face, Erik felt a smudge of wetness on his cheek. Pulling his hands away to glance at them, he realized it was ink. Wincing, he decided that a nice hot bath was in store before he went upstairs to watch the progress that was being made to his Opera House. After all, it would not do for him to be found out because of his inability to keep himself clean!
Getting up from his desk, Erik quickly tossed aside his dirty clothes, scrubbed himself raw with soap and water, and dressed in an all-black ensemble. In his opinion, he looked rather dashing in nothing but black, the white of his mask heightened by the dark color. He knew that this outfit would strike fear into any who laid eyes on him, and he relished that knowledge as he made his way up to the Opera Populaire, hoping to catch of glimpse of his quarry.
'It feels rather odd to be in the Opera House and not having to work on something,' Marie thought to herself as she walked around the nearly deserted structure. Everyone else was away on private business, leaving the building practically void of all life.
Presently, the Populaire was between productions, with the managers having no intension of choosing another until after the New Year's Eve Masquerade. With no chosen opera to work on, and therefore, no costumes to make, Marie was doomed to spend the next month bored in the elegant safe house she shared with Christine. And since she had nothing to do in the splendid de Chagny residence, Marie had decided to pass her free time in the Populaire, where there was always someplace that held something to do to keep one from becoming bored. Today, she had decided to spend time in a room that she had very rarely been in without the supervision of the costume mistresses or a fellow companion's presence. Today, Marie snuck into one of the most magical places in the entire Populaire: the costume rooms.
Carefully opening the door, Marie took a quick peek around to be sure that she would not be caught. Madame Rose was the queen of everything that lay behind these doors, and did not want to risk anything delicate to idle hands. Expensive materials were stored in here, from cloth to sequins, as well as the elaborate costumes and headpieces that took weeks of intense hard work to make. Therefore, there were only four or five people that had keys to this room: Madame Rose, Marie and Lauren (her assistants), Madame Giry, and the managers. Everyone else was kept out so that they would not play with the costumes.
'But I'm going to be rather naughty and play with the costumes anyway,' Marie thought to herself, shivering at the thrillingly dangerous prospect of being caught.
She had never dared to do this before; the only time that Marie had been allowed into these rooms without being on 'official' costume business was when she just remembered something she needed to adjust or fix for a performance. So, tightly clutching the lantern she had brought, Marie slipped inside, silently closing the door behind her and locking it so that no one could disturb her. Once she was safe from discovery, she turned the light up to its fullest and stared at the treasure trove of magnificence around her.
Shimmering silks, satins, velvets, muslins, gauzy veils, feathers, and all other materials opened up in a sea before her. Colors of every different shade swirled around her in a rainbow of cloth, beads, and sequins, the jewelry sewn onto the outfits complimenting everything with faint metallic glitters. For some, there were headpieces that matched, while for others there were strange props that were attached to it, such as silver or gold 'magic' wands with shimmering silks attached to the tops.
And now she would get to play with them all!
Picking her way through the numerous outfits, Marie found one particular outfit that she had always liked but had never had the courage to try on. It was a white gown made of silk and trimmed with gold thread, a simple but elegant piece for an opera based on the story Snow White. It was amongst Marie had been assigned to construct on her own, and it was her pride and joy.
As she had stitched each bit of gold embroidery to the shimmering white hem and adjusted the delicate white lace on the collar, Marie had fallen in love with the dress and had hoped that the wearer would do it justice. It was fortunate that the girl who had played the lead had not been Carlotta, for the diva had been out with a terrible case of the flu. Instead, the understudy for Snow White had been a young woman close to Marie's age and size, and the dress had been altered to fit her. Fortunately, the girl had been kind enough to tease Marie, saying that they were the same size and asked Marie to try on the dress. Since the costume mistress would have likely fired her for it, Marie had refused, and the dress had been tucked away to be used for the performance. After that, however, it had been carefully stored in the back rooms of the Populaire, and Marie had not expected to see it again.
But now was her chance. Slipping behind a changing screen, Marie slid out of her plain green work-dress and into the light and elegant white gown. There were white slippers to go with it, but they would not fit her, so she made do without. The bodice of the dress fit her well, and the sleeves fell to her wrists with an overlay of white gauze that hung down almost to the floor. Marie looked around and found the jeweled belt that went with it, the end falling to just above the gold-embroidered hem.
She sighed. "I wish I could have a dress like this," she said aloud, knowing no one would hear.
Looking down, Marie let out a giggle and twirled around, feeling like a little girl playing dress up with elegant clothes bought just for her. Something large and white in the corner caught her eye, causing her to turn her head to get a better look. There stood a pair of glorious white wings which the prop makers had put together for a Christmas performance. Getting an idea, Marie walked across the room and removed them from the wall. Sliding her arms through the shoulder rests, the silk wrappings that made the device bearable to wear slipped under the arms so that the wings would not slip out of place. Dressed in full costume regalia, Marie turned to look herself in the mirror, smiling at what she saw.
"I really do look like an angel," she softly said to the room around her as she turned back and forth to look at herself from all points of view.
After a few minutes, her shoulders began to tire of wearing the wings, so she removed them. A sigh of relief spilled from her lips as she set them aside, deciding to instead favor her reflection in the white gown she so greatly loved and admired. As she twirled around, Marie realized that her outfit looked rather…lacking, without the wings to add an air of fantasy to it. The thought rather depressed her.
"Christine would look like an angel no matter what," she murmured to herself, glaring down at the floor. "Christine always looks like an angel…like Erik's angel…" The thought caused her to choke on the tears that threatened to spill.
"Why can't I look like that?" she said, falling to her knees, her hands limp in her lap. "Why can't I ever look lovely enough to get Erik's attention?"
Realizing that she was getting the gown dirty, Marie stood up and brushed it off, sniffing as she shook the dust from the skirt. Sighing, she slipped behind the screen and changed out of the white gown and into her own dress. When she emerged, her tears were under control, though her eyes were red and puffy. The white gown was soon returned to the storage chest where she had obtained it, but Marie did not leave just yet. Instead, she stopped in front of the mirror and looked.
"Why can't you love me, Erik?" she asked, as though he were right before her, hearing her words. "I love you more than you could ever know. Don't you see me?" She sighed. "Of course you don't. You only see Christine…beautiful, talented Christine who can sing like and angel and bring your music to life. You don't want a talentless girl like me."
Tears began falling down her face once more as she looked around the room. Marie quickly spotted a rather revealing red gown, and decided to be spontaneous. Quickly snatching it up, she went behind the screen once more and changed. When she emerged, Marie was rather shocked at what she saw, and blushed.
"Well, at least now I know I have a bust," she said, somewhat jokingly.
However, she had to admit that she did look good in red; it just happened to be one of the only colors that she looked decent in, besides black. This dress was red with a black bodice. The lacings were red, as were the designs sewn onto the black fabric. Around the length of the skirt was a twisting jungle of black leaves and flowers, giving the costume an exotic look and feel. Marie actually felt attractive in this dress, possibly even eye-catching.
"Probably not enough to catch the Phantom's eye," she said bitterly. She looked down at the fair amount of cleavage that showed over the top of the dress. "Although those might help attract the eyes of other men." Suddenly, a smile crept its way up to her lips.
"I wonder if I could ask Madame Rose if I could wear this to the Masquerade on New Year's Eve?"
Erik felt his heart drop in his chest as he heard Marie speak to 'herself' in the mirror, not knowing that he had been watching her since the moment she had entered the Populaire.
He had known Marie was there within moments of her having set foot inside his domain. Since the managers had given everyone time off to do as they pleased, many had left to pursue their own interests. There had been a rather empty feel to the place, and the sound of footsteps had caught his attention quickly. He had followed them up to the costume rooms and had just slipped behind the mirror when Marie had begun to look at herself in her angel outfit. Erik had suddenly found his breathing to become labored as he watched Marie turn from side to side, admiring her as she gazed at her own reflection. Did she know how lovely she was in white?
He became so caught in the shameful images his mind was producing that he didn't notice that Marie now stood before him, sans white wings and costume.
"Why can't you love me, Erik?" she asked the mirror in a forlorn voice, as though she could see him through the false glass. "I love you more than you could ever know. Don't you see me?"
'Of course I see you,' he wanted to say as his mind drifted towards the numerous times he had spent watching over her and keeping her safe from harm. That had been why Buquet ended up at the end of the Phantom's rope: he had dared to touch Marie more than once in front of the Ghost.
She sighed. "Of course you don't. You only see Christine…beautiful, talented Christine who can sing like and angel and bring your music to life. You don't want a talentless girl like me."
He watched her change into an ensemble that made Erik want to rush into the room and cover up everything she was showing.
It was a red dress, and it exposed more of her chest than he wanted displayed to those of the male half of society. Watching Marie twirl around, the red material swirling around her in a rather enticing manner, and Erik was extremely thankful that she was in a locked room where no one else could see what she was wearing.
"Well, at least now I know I have a bust," he heard her say.
'Of course she does!' Not that he had ever looked at that, of course…
"Probably not enough to catch the Phantom's eye," she muttered.
'It most certainly is.'
She looked down at the fair amount of cleavage that showed over the top of the dress. "Although those might help attract the eyes of other men." Erik swallowed around the lump in his throat as a smile crept its way up to Marie's lips.
"I wonder if I could ask Madame Rose if I could wear this to the Masquerade on New Year's Eve?"
Oh, how he wanted to roar a protest against that idea! But she could not know that he had been watching, that he had heard the words of love that had fallen from her lips, and that he had seen her at both her most angelic and her most ravishing. Suddenly, his pants felt a bit tight…
Silently, Erik stayed behind the mirror and watched her leave the costume room, closing and locking the door behind her. He knew that he could never allow Marie to display herself in such a manner to other men. He could not afford to lose her now, not as he was already losing Christine to that Fop. No, he needed them both to stay with him. They were his, and he would not let either of them go without a fight! Raoul and the men that Marie was hoping to attract would find a deadly foe in the form of the Phantom. All he needed was a plan to get both girls back to the Populaire…
Turning, Erik stalked back to his underground cavern, a plan forming in the back of his mind.
AN: Up next: Masquerade! It should be fun! Review!
