A New Destiny
I do not own any lyrics in this chapter or any chapters!
Ch 3
Arya woke up in a bed that was wrapped in a iron swan form. A black blanket was wrapped around her with a red velvet curtain concealing her from the world. She looked around and found a gold rope hanging and pulled on it. The curtain raised, giving her the view of a empty room besides the bed.
"H-hello?..." She called out quietly. Scared as she was alone in the room. She tried looking for a way out. She got out of the bed and noticed a small knot on the wall. She pressed on it and watched as the wall rose up. Light flooded the room and she slowly walked out of it and into the corridor. She quickly found herself in another room.
The man who took her was sitting on a bench by a piano and writing something down, not paying any attention to his surrounding. She stayed by the entrance of the corridor.
"Who are you?!" She asked in anger. The man froze and slowly sat up, putting his pen away. He turned to face her and she gasped and fell to her knees.
"Matthew?..." She whispered in confusion. He looked to her with worry and then looked down.
"I know what this must look like to you..." He said to her gently.
"Y-you... You tease me, torment me... And then hide yourself and teach me?" She questioned him. He walked over to her and helped her off the floor. She kept her distance from him after his help. "Explain to me why... And where am I?"
"Damn it, Arya, I love you!" Matthew yelled at her, advancing on her. She kept putting space between them. "I figured if I could get you out of your shell you would see me and fall in love with me... Then I heard you sing and knew you were meant to be mine. But then you met HIM," He spat out. "It should've been me you fell in love with!" He started throwing things around and out of his way to get a hold of Arya. She kept her space away from him, looking for a way out.
"You're not the Phantom, Matthew... And I'm not Christine... Don't make this story real... I don't love you. You did too much to me through out high school, through out college... for me to even process the thought of loving you. You have to let me go, Matthew," She told him as gently as she could. There was a glint in his eyes and she knew there was no talking to him.
'Someone please help me...' She cried out in her mind. She felt the wall and knew she backed up into corner. 'Oh dear lord... I'm either going to be raped or murdered...' She looked to Matthew with concern. What happened for him to act this way? What did she do? What could she do?
Matthew had at least two more feet before he could touch her. She closed her eyes and crouched down in fear. She covered her head with her arms and silently began to cry. She heard him coming closer and then she heard a gasp. She looked up and saw Matthew standing there with a noose around his neck. He was struggling to get it off. She stood and tried to move herself closer to the corner she was in.
She couldn't take her eyes off the horror she was seeing. Black glove hands held the noose tight until Matthew stopped moving. His eyes wide open and blood shot. His body then was thrown to the floor. She looked to the man who saved her. Another masked man, only this one seemed like he truly belonged in the late 1800's.
"Ça va, mademoiselle?" He asked in a low voice, reminding her of Gerard Butler. She could only nod before feeling warm and tried to keep her eyes open. The shock finally set in and she fainted once again into the arms of a masked man.
"Arya?! Arya!" She heard. She whimpered as her head throbbed.
"It's okay now, you're safe," was all she heard before passing out again.
The next time she woke up, she was in her bed. Boquets of flowers filled her room. She looked down to see she was in her night gown and blushed at the thought of someone changing her. A knock sounded on the door. "Arya.. Are you awake?"
"I am.. You can come in..." She said as she grabbed her robe and put it on as she slowly stood. Arthur walked in and sighed in relief and came right up to her and held her. She wrapped her arms around him and buried her face into his chest.
"I almost thought I had lost you..." He whispered to her, raising her face to meet his in a kiss. She pulled back after a moment.
"I thought I was going to die with the way he kept coming at me... How did you find me?" She asked quietly, staring into his eyes.
"A note floated down onto the stage... I picked it up and read it quickly. It said that you were in the chapel and where to find Matthew... Did he commit suicide because you told him no?" Arthur asked seriously. She shook her head no.
"Someone saved me, Arthur... A man in a white mask... Oh Arthur, I'm telling you he looked like someone dressing up as the phantom... Only he had golden eyes..." She whispered, staring off as she remembered what she saw. "He had taken a noose and strangled Matthew... I fainted after I noticed him really..." She chuckled in annoyance at herself. "I'm so tired of fainting..."
"If the police ask, Matthew shot himself, okay?" Arthur told her. She nodded and he held her close to him. "Go ahead and get a shower and then dressed, I'm going to get Mr. Martin and Madam Ellison and let them know that you're awake now. We'll meet you in the manager's office."
"Okay," She whispered before kissing him. He gently kissed her back, rubbing her face before leaving.
She sat on the bed for a good minute before getting up and heading to the bathroom. She scrubbed her body til it was bright pink. She didn't know what Matthew did while she was unconscious but she knew he didn't rape her. She wrapped herself in a towel and headed back into the bedroom and dried off.
She picked out white tank top with a blue plush cashmere rib knitted cardigan and some blue skinny jeans. Getting dressed quickly, she slipped on some blue flats and quickly brushed out her curls before heading out to the managers office.
Arthur met her there with Mr. Martin and Madam Ellison who both were worried about her. She calmed them down, saying that she was unharmed. Mr. Martin asked if she was still willing to play Christine which she was. Madam Ellison hugged the young woman in relief of both being safe and willing to stay.
"Where is she?!"
Arya tensed and hid behind Arthur making everyone chuckle.
"Oh you don't understand... She's on a warpath... Who told her that I was missing?!" She whispered, making everyone laugh.
"ARYA CHRISTINE HALL!" Arya winced as the door was flung open. Her grandmother came storming in. She peeked around Arthur only to be yanked from behind him and into her grandmother's chest who started smothering her with kisses and cursing her all in Irish.
"Grandma... Grandma... Grandma!"
Her grandmother pulled back finally and stared at Arya in the face. Arya sighed in relief.
"I'm fine, Grandma, I promise. Nothing happened at all," She tried calming down her grandmother. Her grandmother sighed and sat in a chair.
"You're going to give me a heart attack, ma petite fille..." Her grandmother told her. Arya chuckled.
"So you've been saying for the past 16 years, grandma..." Arya commented, waiting on everything to officially calm down.
"You did amazingly last night, ma petite fille. You have the spirit of your ancestor in you," Grandma told her. Madam Ellison handed Grandma a cup of tea and Mr. Martin sat behind his desk.
"And when will you finally tell me who that is?" Arya asked as Arthur pulled up a couple of chairs for them to sit in. Arya grabbed Arthur's hand and mingled her fingers with his.
"After you tell me who this strapping young man is," Grandma said with a flirty voice. Arya turned red with embarrassment. Arya looked to Arthur, who nodded to her.
"Grandma... This is Arthur Mote, my boyfriend," She introduced Arthur to her grandmother. Her grandmother raked her eyes over Arthur before nodding. "Now who is this ancestor you keep talking about?"
Her grandmother sighed and looked to the poster that hung in the office window that showed the production of the Phantom of the Opera.
"Gaston Leroux based his story on the truth, right?"
"I guess so..." Arya said in confusion, "Grandma.. you're not about to go on and say that we're related to Christine, are you?" She asked with an eyebrow raised.
"Yes and one more character of the book," Grandma said quietly. She looked to Arthur before sighing and looking to Arya.
"Erik Destler."
"Grandma... Please tell me that you're kidding... That.. this is some strange fiction that was passed down," Arya began to plead. Arthur rubbed his thumb over the back of her hand in hopes of keeping her calm.
"I have a genealogy book at home... Know the binder I keep locked in my desk?"
"Yes, grandma..."
"It traces back to Erik Destler, Christine Daae, and their son Gustave. Gustave changed his last name to Destler after finding out that Erik was his father and not Raoul. When he married, the woman could never pronounce the name correctly due to a lisp and so Dessler came to be..."
"Oh god... Your last name... Mama's last name..." Arya had a hard time keeping everything in, breathing sporadically. She felt faint and so she did, with Arthur catching her before she hit the floor.
"I swear she faints more than she can walk in a straight line," He tried to kid. He could barely register that he was dating the descendant of the famous couple from the broadway they were in. He picked up Arya and held her in his lap as he sat in his chair, cradling her to him waiting for her to awaken. Mr. Martin handed a fan to Madam Ellison and had her fan the soprano, in hopes of cooling down her body.
Arya sat up straight in Arthur's lap and spun to look at her grandmother in the face. Arthur quickly surprised had to wrap his arms around her waist to keep her from flying out of his lap and into the floor.
"You knew and you never told me?!" She cried out in disbelief.
"I couldn't tell you until the time was right, ma petite fille. Your great great grandfather is Erik Destler and I have a feeling you woke up his spirit," Grandma told her seriously. She stared Arya straight in the face.
"I DID WHAT?!"
"You woke up his spirit. Do you feel like someone is watching over you?"
"Besides what happened last night? Yes! The moment I stepped foot into this opera house, I felt like someone was watching me."
"That's him."
Arya turned to Arthur as he told her, "He could've been the one who saved you last night, mon amour..."
"The golden eyes..." She whispered. She rested her head on his shoulder and felt him rub her hair down her back. It was soothing, making her close her eyes as tried to take everything in.
"I think he's here to see the production with you as it's star. No more arguing over who is prima donna. No more fighting over who wins her heart," Her grandmother said gently making her look to Arthur.
"This Phantom already won my heart..." Arya told everyone quietly.
"It's quite true... Over the past month and a half, they stick to each other. Eating, practicing, talking about every day normal life," Madam Ellison said with a grin. Arthur couldn't keep the smile off his face as he stared at Arya.
"I would say my pick of cast was amazingly picked," Mr. Martin said with a smirk. His elbows were on the desk and his head rested on his folded hands. "With this all being said, we have work to do."
"We have a gala tonight," Madam Ellison told Grandma, "You're invited as your granddaughter is the rising star of the production. Why don't we go get ready together and I tell you about her time here?"
Grandma smiled and nodded. "Gladly. Let the love birds have their time."
Madam Ellison and Grandma left the office with grins on their faces. Arya got off Arthur's lap and held onto his hand and all but dragged him from the office and lead them to the roof top.
"Why did you bring us here?" Arthur asked. Curious as to why it had to be the roof top and not the park that was down the street. Arya looked to him and blushed.
"This has been the best month I've ever had you know..." Arya started, "And sometimes it's hard for me to convey my feelings while talking..."
"Trust me, my love.. I know. You break out into song when you start getting really nervous," Arthur said with a soft smirk. "Are you about to sing to me again?"
Arya blushed and nodded.
"Give me more loving than I ever had
Make it all better when I'm feeling sad
Tell me that I'm special even when I know I'm not
Make it feel good when I hurt so bad
Barely gettin' mad
I'm so glad I found you
I love being around you
You make it easy" She started out looking out over Paris before looking to him.
"It's as easy one, two, one, two, three, four
There's only one thing, two do, three words, four you...
I love you...
There's only one thing, two do, three words, four...
I love you..." She ended, waiting on his reaction. He grinned and picked her up and spun her around.
"I love you too, mon amour!" He told her before kissing her.
He started humming before breaking out in song himself.
"Say you'll share with me
One love, one lifetime
Lead me, save me from my solitude
Say you want me with you here, beside you
Anywhere you go, let me go, too
Christine, that's all I ask of you!"
Arya kissed him, holding him close to her, her hands running through his hair. He kissed her back and spun her around again.
"I must go... I need to get ready for the gala tonight. Oh, I'm wearing green," Arya said with a wink. Arthur chuckled and lead her back to her room so she could get ready. Leaving with a kiss goodbye he went to his own room to get ready.
Arya turned around to gasp. There was another rose on her pillow. Only this one had a black ribbon tied around the stem. She picked it up and stroked the ribbon before smelling the rose. She smiled and whispered thank you. Placing it back on her pillow she went to her armoire and pulled out a black garment bag. She opened it up and hung the dress in the bathroom doorway.
It was a deep forest green with golden beading flowing from the bust to the beginning of the skirt. It had spaghetti straps with sheer fabric hanging off the top shoulder point and sheer fabric going down the back of the dress as a train. (Google A Lark & A Lady, Dark Green Woodland Fairy Dress)
Arya quickly did her make up and fixed her hair up in a messy bun with ringlets framing her face. She added her black rose and some fake moss to her hair to make her look more like Mother Nature. She discarded her normal clothes and slid on the dress, thanking someone for built in bras.
She kicked off her blue flats and sat by her make up table and pulled a box from underneath it. Opening it she pulled out a stiletto heeled shoe with a big bow on the side. It's faux suede the same color as her dress. She put them one and stood carefully as she never wore stilettos before. Checking to make sure everything was in place, Arya went on the hunt, looking for her grandmother.
Her dress flowed around her as she moved. She looked around the office to Madam Ellison and even her bedroom. Her grandmother was no where to be found.
She went to the chapel and found no one there as well. She sighed and stood in front of the portrait of Gustave Daae.
"Hello great, great, great, grandfather. I... I honestly don't know what to say... I never imagine that I could be related to character out of a book, only to find out that you're real..." Arya claimed quietly. She found a match and somehow lit it and held it to a candle. She took the match and blew it out after the candle lit.
"You look like the spitting image of her."
Arya turned around to see the masked man who saved her.
"It's you..." She whispered, walking up to him. "May I?..."
He could only stand still as she raised her hand and took of the mask. She smiled gently and kissed his deformed cheek.
"You look handsome, grandfather..." She told him. "There's no more need to hide your face."
Tears rolled down Erik's face. He took her hands into his. Music flowed into the chapel and he spun her around and they began to dance. Erik truly enjoyed himself as he watched her great, great, great granddaughter laugh as they danced. Once the song was over, he bent over and kissed her cheek. Gently taking the mask back from her and putting it back on his face, he disappeared when Arthur found Arya looking to the iron gate that would lead both the alley out of the opera house and down 7 floors down to where the Phantom used to live.
"Arya?"
She turned around with a smile on her face. He held out his hand and she took it and they walked out to the foyer of the opera house. She took notice of his attire. He wore a three piece suit, the vest being a deep green, matching her dress.
Music filled the building as they got closer. Grandma stood at the top waiting for them. Arya kissed her cheek as she passed by.
"50 francs they get engaged by the end of the season," Madam Ellison challenged. Grandma laughed and shook hands with the ballet mistress.
"50 francs they get engaged by the end of the week. Marriages happen fast in this family," Grandma said. Together they walked down the stairs and watched everyone dance by them, not noticing the many eyes that followed them down as well.
"How is it, your great great granddaughter and my great granddaughter finally meet, they place a bet?"
A man chuckled.
"It seems my dear Antoinette, that they are like you and me in those aspects..."
"Oh Erik... Them enjoy tonight. They will have something else to celebrate soon if my eye aren't deceiving me."
"She looked at me with love... No fear in her eyes..."
"She's a strong woman, Erik. She got that from you."
"I believe tomorrow night... I might rest in peace for once..."
"You say that like you might actually leave."
The dark haired woman looked up to her masked friend, worried. He shook his head at her.
"I only mean that I think my haunting days are finally over. I will watch over my descendants and make sure no harm comes to them."
The pair stayed silent as they watched over Arya and Arthur dancing the night away.