:A/N: Okay, so finally another chapter in which you'll find out some further things about Erik's letter. Eager to read it? Hah hah. Well, at least I hope you guys will have fun. I tried not to be too funny in this chapter, for I wanted to point out the tragedy. I promise next one will be funnier.
:Summary: When Raoul gets to the Opera, he doesn't remember Christine. He lays his eyes upon somebody else. Christine pouts. Madame is confused. C. gets on Erik's nerves. How he tries to get rid of her. (Drama/Parody) (Raoul/Antoinette)
:Disclaimer: I do not own POTO. A tragedy itself.
:Claimer: She's mine, she's mine, and she's still mine! Yahoo! Maxime forever!
:All previous chapters beta-read by Lady-Miranda-Van-Tassel:
:Special Thanks to Robika, Madame Van Tassel, Meg Giry and Lady-Miranda-Van-Tassel:
: Chapter 9 : Holy, the Second :
When his feet touched the street in front of the Opera, a slight mist surrounded them. Self-confidently, they approached the Opera to get inside. The feet's owner, a so-called Le Vicomte, looked up to the Opera windows as if there was something suspicious he could possibly make out. Since there was nothing of that kind, he walked inside. Merely a slight shiver went down his spine, causing him to force a more calm appearance.
The Great Hall appeared empty in front of him. He sighed. 'At least neither Christine nor Antoinette are around yet,' he thought, taking the steps upstairs. He had feared one of them – or even worse, both – would have been there. A tragedy would have happened. Having to fulfill the duties the Phantom had inflicted, he wouldn't have had time to explain everything to Antoinette. And this was, just to his belief, very essential for him to survive this upcoming drama.
He needed to inform Antoinette, better before he met Christine. The Phantom had his eyes everywhere. That he knew. He was watching everything that dared to move without his acceptance. And he would see if Raoul didn't fulfill his duties. Raoul's sad eyes sought for Antoinette but couldn't find her. His mind ran in danger of over- thinking and a knocking pain began to form inside of his head. 'I have to find her. I just need to. If she misunderstands this, our young love will be dead. Dead forever. Never compete with women whose hearts had been broken, even if it was a long time ago. They don't trust anybody. Not even themselves.'
That moment, he didn't know he was completely right on all of those things. Madame had had a broken heart, and she didn't trust herself. Especially when it came to her private meetings with him.
"Monsieur Le Vicomte!" Madame's bright voice called for him. His eyes wide with surprise and joy, he turned around to see her running to him.
"What is it?" he asked.
"It's Erik," she whispered, taking his hand in fear and forgetting everything she had decided to do against this relationship. "I need to talk to you. He's planning something, something evil, we can never be sure –" Her cheeks ran red with excitement and Raoul felt how her fingers trembled. Inside of him, he felt his heart sink onto the carpet underneath his feet.
"I know."
"But how?"
Raoul looked around to foreclose that anybody was listening. "Is there someplace I can talk to you without him hearing us?"
Madame took his arm, slightly pulling him back down the stairs. They left the Opera to go out for what would be a very painful walk.
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Meg sat down next to Christine. "Chris, who's this?"
"It's…um… Maxime. Can't you see that?"
"Uh-oh…"
"What uh-oh? Isn't it great?"
Meg bent her head out of hope to make out Maxime better from a different ankle but failed. "Well," she floundered, "it's very… demanding to draw, isn't it?"
"I'm not having any difficulties with it. I thought about drawing her whole body, but it would have very few details. So I only want her face. I want every part of her beautiful face in it!"
"And why do you draw her?" Meg didn't understand this behaviour anymore, had she ever? At least it was worth a try.
"I want to put it right next to Raoul's painting."
"So what? You'll have a Maxime and Raoul altar?"
"Yes! Isn't it great?"
"But Chris, why Maxime and not … somebody else?"
"Like you?" Christine asked and took a different pencil. 'For God's sake,' Meg thought. "Well."
"Because she told me that Raoul loves me."
Meg raised her eyebrows, lost in something that was a mix of disgust and pity.
"She deserves appropriate exposure."
"Christine, she's not a fossil."
Christine's mouth fell open in shock. "Thank God she's not!" She stood up, pulling the painting close to her chest, dancing across the room and sang. "My lovely Maxime, thank God you're alive…"
Meg rolled her eyes, thinking about the safest way to immediately kill Christine. Then, she remembered, her boobs were in the way.
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"Erik, come back here." Maxime sighed, hoping he would, finally, turn away from the painting he had been shooting darts at for what seemed lifetimes.
"I can't. I'm thinking."
"Please don't do things you're not good at," Maxime giggled.
Erik turned around and glared at her. First, he thought about slapping her, but then his eyes caught the sight of her cleavage and he erased the idea. "They're out for a walk. He'll tell her." He scratched his head. "Do you understand? He's really telling her. Against all my advice."
"Why should he not? I mean, why should we break her heart either? Leave her thinking about him to be so brave and everything will turn out the way you want it to. We don't want her to be sad in a way that is too obvious, do we?"
Erik sat down on the bed and wondered whether he had taught her to be so intelligent or whether she had copied it from him. "Maxime, tell me, my love, how much is one times four?"
She leaned over and kissed him. "Six?" she giggled.
"Exactly," Erik nodded his head, laughing. "You're such a good girl. So we're going to let Mme. Giry find out about my letter?"
"Yes. Why not? She won't disturb Le Vicomte. Exactly the opposite is going to happen, I tell you." She kissed him. "She'll encourage him to do exactly what you want."
"Why should she?"
"Because she fears you. Isn't that obvious? How many times did you force her to do what you wanted?"
"Very often." Erik nodded his head again. "Yes. Let's leave her alone. She'll cope with my plans. She has to. Otherwise I'll never get rid of Christine."
"I wish that plan had been my idea."
"Well, sometimes the Phantom is prudent.'
"And passionate." She pulled him down to her and whispered into his ear.
He chuckled, kissing her neck and slowly undressing her. She giggled, too, and thought how nicely she had distracted him from his new game, shooting darts at Christine's painting. Maybe, he was indeed no kid anymore, but a man with desires.
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They stopped speaking when they were back in the Great Hall. Madame Giry closed her eyes and turned away from Raoul. She had been successful hiding her feelings so far, but she feared she wouldn't be any longer. What he had told her had cut her to the quick.
"I hope we will meet at midnight at my house," he touched her shoulder, "I promise I won't give up on you. It is the last thing on earth I would do."
Madame's hands hadn't stopped trembling and she knew they would for the next days, months, years. How long would this game go on, whereas it hadn't started yet but was painful already? She turned back to him, tears in her eyes.
"I know. You can't change his wishes. Again, he is very smart and knows what he wants. Do what he asked you to. Forget about me in those moments. Think of me only short time before midnight, when you know I'll be at your place, waiting for you. Waiting for what would be the only joyful moment of my day."
Raoul nodded his head. "Yes," he breathed, feeling his heart break."
"RAOUL!"
Both of them turned around in shock. Christine came running down the stairs. Madame and Raoul exchanged haggard looks, both of them fearing what would come.
Raoul smiled his brightest smile at her, pulling her towards him. "Christine," he breathed into her ear. Pain stroked him, his face got caught up in it, but Christine fortunately couldn't see it. But Madame was the one to see what was behind the theatre that would go on from now on and turned around to not see what would happen the next. She knew. When the moment of pain left Raoul again and he had himself under control, he kissed Christine on the lips.xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
To be continued...
Starring...
Maxime : The big boobed ballerina
Meg : Poor girl tortured by brat
Christine : Brat
