A/N: Review replies have been moved to the bottom for aesthetic purposes. They were kind of cluttering things up were they were.

Disclaimer: I do not in any way own anything related to the Phantom of the Opera. That right belongs to people far richer and smarter than me.

Chapter 7: SiPhy Double Feature

"Please? Ya know ya wanna!" C.C. had been begging Erik to let her go haunting for the better part of an hour and the fabled Opera Ghost was nearing his breaking point.

"I said we would see!" he snapped at her.

"Oh, come on, love!" she persisted.

"Will you be quite already! Your obnoxious mismatched accent is really starting to bother me!"

"My accent is not obnoxious!" He had hit one of the few really sore points in her life. "It's just multi cultural!"

"Pray tell, my dear, what does that mean exactly?" Apparently her outburst had perked his interest.

"Just what I said!" she huffed. "It's a mix of different accents!"

Erik sat down on the couch. This was a potentially intriguing conversation and he was not going to miss the chance to delve into it. He motioned to the seat beside him. C.C. wasn't sure she wanted to sit down next to him at that moment, but her phangirl instincts wouldn't allow her to pass up a chance to be mere centimeters from her obsession. Stiffly she sat down, flipping her jet curls indignantly and refusing to look at him.

"Where are you from, mademoiselle?"He asked her sweetly.

"A lot of places." she snapped bluntly.

"Which places are those?" Erik purred into her ear.

C.C. felt her resolve weakening. True, she was a stubborn and thick headed individual, but she was also a phan. Apparently Erik was catching on to this and was pressing his advantage. "Now that I'm in college: London with my mum on summer holiday, Geogia during the school year, and British Columbia on spring and winter holiday. I have tri-citizenship." she relented.

"Interesting," Erik mused, "and how exactly did this come about?"

C.C. sighed, she kind of got tired of telling this story, but it was something that people always found fascinating for some odd reason. "My nana on my dad's side was an American and my Grandfather was a Canadian. He was in the fleet, she was a nurse, they met on a base, had a son, and thus my dad was a dual-citizen. Then my father followed in his dad's seaman footsteps, joined up with the US Navy, and was stationed in England. While he was there he went to a benefit concert where he, for about five minutes, fell head over heels with a young opera singer, my mum. I was born, my parents split up, I was bounced between my mum, my dad, and my nan enough that I qualified for citizenship for each country. So you might say that I'm living proof that there should never have been International Navy bases."

There it was, the story of her life. Most times she just would have stopped there, but for some reason she kept going. Maybe it was because for the first time she had found someone who could identify with the feeling of not belonging even more than she could. Her gemstone eyes growing stormy she continued.

"See, that's why I hate it when people talk about my accent, or the fact that I never name the latest stars in the country, or sing along with the new number one hit. I don't really belong to any of their countries. Don't get me wrong, love all my homes and families, but that doesn't change the fact that I'm an outcast in each of them."

As she finished, C.C. found her hands suddenly very interesting. She stared intently at their twisting motion while she waited for the Phantom to respond. For several tense seconds they sat in awkward silence before Erik finally spoke. "Maybe I misunderstood you, little one." He looked contemplative, his grey-green eyes somewhat distance as he gently gnawed his lower lip. "If you would like, I'll show you my opera house."

C.C. brightened. "Really?" she squealed and threw her arms around Erik's neck, completely forgetting that was high on the list of Ways To Make A Phantom Want To Kill You. Erik stiffened, then to C.C.'s surprise, allowed himself to be hugged. But, not for very long. After a few seconds he stood up with a hint of a smile and gestured towards the back rooms. "Come on then. We had best get you into some decent haunting clothes."

The Authoress jumped up from the sofa and clapped her hands merrily like an excited child. Her eyes sparkling brightly she bounded ahead of Erik into the back rooms. "Who are we going to terrorize?" she asked him.

"No one." Immediately Erik began to regret his decision.

"Then can I drop something on someone?"

"No."

"Can I try out my maniacal laugh on the ballet girls?"

"No."

"Can I. . ."

"NO!" Erik could tell this was going to be a long night.

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A/N: Here it is. The long awaited chapter where you finally get properly introduced to me, your humble host. I'm afraid it's not a very funny one, but since my adoring fans want to know. . .

Muse!Erik: cough-humblemyass-cough

C.C.: I heard that! Go to your closet!

Muse!Erik: No, we have to do review replies first.

MTL: Have fun with your Erik! Tearing their clothing into tiny pieces is half the fun of having one.

Muse!Erik: Ha! Tear now, but one of these days we abused muses shall get our revenge.

Trier1975: Always a pleasure to talk to the phellow phans. Glad you like it!

Muse!Erik: Antics? I hardly call her running around a fellow Erik's lair wrecking havoc innocent antics!

Darth Squishy: Angelina pictures, hmm? I wonder if that would distract Muse!Erik when he's being particularly obnoxious.

Muse!Erik: . . .what? I was distracted by the pretty brit with all the weapons.

C.C.: Eureka!

elf of rohan: Erik running around half naked is a marvelous image isn't it?

Muse!Erik: -mumbles something about punjabbing-

Anon: Erik does have a bit of an ego problem, doesn't he? But, I can't complain to much. After all he didn't love himself so much he would have killed me back in chapter 2. And, darn it, I new I shouldn't have let Freddy be my Beta!

Muse!Erik: To big for my. . .Insolent Fool! How dare you? -lunges at computer screen-

C.C.: Hey! You even think about it and I'll lock you in your closet with the neighbor's teacup Chihuahua!

Momnonomous: hehe, fun name. Hmmm, G.D.G., it doesn't have the same ring as, lets say, O.G., but it might to.

Muse!Erik: Hey! My fellow Eriks and I are the only ones who get cool initials.