Disclaimer: I am neither Andrew Lloyd Webber nor Gaston Leroux.

Author Note: So here is part 2 of today's update, and finally Christine is being told the truth and who she is.

I want to thank you again for still reading this story even though my update schedule is lousy- your fav's and follows and reviews are so very much appreciated. :)

Thirty- Unmasked

In the end, it only took an evening to explain to Christine Daae the 11 years that had been wiped from her memories and lost to her. An evening, and of course the comforting presence of two men whom she had come to love and rely upon far more than she would ever care to admit, considering the number of times she had been furious with them for obscuring the truth. It frightened her a little that her life could be condensed to such a short amount of time- of course, Madame Giry and Meg had already set the scene for what had been a tumultuous adolescence in the Opera Populaire, but they all knew that the details of Christine's life had been gorgeously dull until the arrival of her unlikely Angel of Music.

How odd it felt to listen to Nadir explain it to her- that she had honestly believed that a voice, heavenly and soothing to the crying girl, was truly an Angel sent to her just as her dying father had promised. It was ridiculous to think that she accepted such a thing as the truth, but Christine knew that her experiences in the gypsy clan had made her far stronger and sure of herself than she must have been before; from the sounds of things, she had been an emotional wreckage, grieving for her father and desperately seeking something or someone who would guide her and never let her fall into that dreaded abyss called loneliness. It was a fear that still clutched at her heart now, if she was honest with herself; the thought of being alone and feeling that awful sense of worthlessness she had felt when her father had died with her sobbing at his bedside made her feel like a child again, lying awake in the dark of a Paris dormitory, trying not to cry out because the shadows on the wall seemed to curl and sneer at her and she wanted nothing more than to run into the warm arms of a parent lost forever.

Perhaps that constant unsteady sensation, or being slightly out of place, was ingrained too deeply within her now to ever be free of it. Perhaps she was destined to be alone. No- Christine pulled herself out of the worry that had started to spiral nauseatingly inside her, looking at Raoul and Nadir and feeling the missing presence of Erik with the throb of her heart. She was not alone. She would never be alone again.

"Madame Giry told me that as soon as you believed you had found your Angel of Music, Christine, you cheered up considerably. Your dancing and singing improved in bounds, and you seemed stronger and happier. When she heard your voice, beautiful and accomplished, singing from your dressing room at night she knew it must be Erik teaching you." Nadir's words were soft and kind, easy to listen to and accept in the firelight as they sat calmly in armchairs and cradled glasses of brandy, for when the story became particularly hard and they needed encouragement. The atmosphere was warm and forgiving and miles from the screaming and shouting at the Populaire and Christine was infinitely grateful for that. "You may well be interested to know that Madame Giry noticed a change in Erik once he started teaching you. She told me that for the first time in all the years she had known him, she saw him smile, talking of you, his beloved pupil and light."

When Christine cried over those achingly sweet words, the tears were silent and soft against her cheeks, and came with a smile of her own. To know she had created such happiness for him made sense in a cyclic, satisfying way- for he had been her light and love in the gypsy clan, when she had been without hope or happiness, and to know that she had given him that same comfort which she cherished was beautiful. She only wished that he were here now, telling her these very words himself.

"If I truly made him so happy, why did he not reveal himself to me? Why did he need to be an Angel, a far away figure that I would never be able to reach?" she asked, and Nadir sighed.

"Erik wanted to be perfect for you. Just as he tried to be by lying to you now and coming to you as the perfect stranger- he was so enamoured with you and treasured your love so much, he couldn't bear to reveal himself and taint it with his darkness." Nadir sounded as if the words pained him- Christine could imagine that Nadir had tried to persuade Erik of his qualities many times over their years spent as a loyal duo, but knowing Erik the words would have been met with disapproval and negativity. "He was scared that you would be disgusted by him."

The hideous flesh of his deformity sprang instantly to Christine's mind and she cringed a little at the thought, knowing that the marred flesh, the yellow tinge, the pulsing veins were indeed ugly and unpleasant. But to be openly disgusted and to shun someone who had given you everything, as he had for her? Christine could not think that anyone could be so repulsively shallow, and yet she had an awful sinking sensation in her stomach that told her that her old self may well have been so atrocious to do just that.

"I'm not disgusted by him." She whispered and Raoul squeezed her hand.

"I know. We both know. But things were very different back then. I don't believe Erik would have ever revealed himself to you Christine, not without force. It was when you were 17 that you miraculously appeared from the chorus to take over the lead role of the opera, singing flawlessly and with astounding beauty. You remember that Madame Giry told you that?" Raoul asked, seeing her confused nod. "Do you also remember that I was there in the audience? I was spellbound- you were beautiful, talented, and every bit the girl I had loved as a child. I decided to approach you, to see if I could possibly re-discover our childhood friendship."

There were flashes in Christine's mind, voices, singing, the feeling of elation soaring as she raised up her arms and poured out her heart and soul for the audience who cheered and clapped and screamed out for more- no, not for the audience. She sang for him, for her Angel, for the one who had coached her and loved her and cherished her voice. She trembled with pride as she finished the song and fell to her knees before all of Paris, knowing she had done it all for him and she had succeeded.

"You might have guessed that Erik had fallen in love with you by this point in time." Nadir continued, and Christine felt her heart lurch- he had fallen in love with her, the girl he had coached and cherished and brought to such heavenly music. She had brought light into his life and he had fallen in love with her- Christine's foolish heart fluttered with romantic joy, knowing it did not end happily but somehow hoping that the past would alter and she would hear a beautiful tale of love and happiness. "He and I had talked about it- he could barely keep the joy from his face when he spoke your name."

Nadir remembered walking into the warmly lit parlour within Erik's curious home beneath the opera- it annoyed him that Erik could make a home five cellars below humanity warmer and more comfortable than his own Parisian flat, cursing his irritatingly talented friend. As if his already vast array of talents weren't enough, it seemed that Erik could add interior design to his skill set.

It struck Nadir as odd that the tune singing its way sweetly from the piano was soft, delicate and incredibly sweet- in fact, that was odd too. Normally when Nadir came wandering into Erik's home to the sound of music- if he actually made it that far and didn't end up suspended from a trap by one toe- it was the terrifyingly loud organ blasting that met his ears, not the pleasant notes of the grand piano nestled in the corner. It was all decidedly odd.

"That sounds nice. What is it?" he asked, and Erik stopped and turned round to look at him, his eyes shining with a joy that made Nadir gape at him in astonishment.

"Just a melody that has been plaguing me all day." He replied, humming it again under his breath, the tune so sweet and adoring that it was almost too much. It was a beautiful piece- so beautiful and romantic that it might move someone to tears. "I wrote it for Christine."

Nadir was stunned into silence. Had Erik really just said that? He looked at his friend hard, looking for a trace of something in his face that might contradict the words, but there was nothing.

"You are in love with her." Nadir said in a whisper, and Erik looked so desperately alive and alight with that very love that Nadir was instantly filled with happiness, despite the fear that always came with such moments- for as cruel as it was, Nadir knew that innocent happiness never lasted long, especially for Erik. "Oh, Erik. That is..."

"Awful, Khan, you can say it. I don't mind, for I know it that it will not come to anything. But I cannot help but feel so...so alive! It is like she has awoken something within me- set my long cold and dormant heart aflame! I know now that I would do anything, anything, for her! It feels so wondrous to say it Daroga, that I love Christine Daae!"

The feeling of doom had been present, even then. Both of them had known it. Within the next few months, Christine sang her debut and Raoul de Chagny stepped into her life once more, setting the scene for heartbreak and pain that none of them- even Nadir- had expected.

"He was happy to love you and continue to be your Angel, Christine, I must ensure you understand that." Nadir sounded uncomfortable now, and Christine could feel her skin prickle as she realised that the story which had been so far innocent and quite charming was about to take a dark turn, as she had known it would. "But then, at the gala and the night of your stunning debut, Raoul de Chagny re-appeared and of course you were charmed and wooed and happy to be with him again. Erik saw this, saw that he would lose you to someone who he saw as his superior in all ways apart from that shared bond you had within music. I don't truly know what he was thinking- but he must have panicked. He latched onto that bond, that music that you shared, and he used it to lure you to him, spellbound and adoring. He revealed himself to you, using his music as a shield and it worked. You went willingly with him."

Erik would not admit to himself that he was scared- even though he was trembling so hard that it was difficult to sing to her, his hands quaking so violently that he could barely activate the mechanism to draw back the glass of the mirror and reveal himself. God, she looked so wonderful stood there, eyes wide and full of awe and amazement and childish love that he could savour and cherish- she loved him, he knew it, an innocent and naive sort of love. But he would take it and savour it all the same.

He dared to reach out to her, worried that she would recoil from him or turn and flee into the arms of that fop, that lily livered boy who had dared to come swaggering in and steal his angel, his light, from his arms. She did not recoil- he let out the breath he had been holding, quivering with delight and fear and overwhelming joy to feel her soft skin beneath his fingertips, to feel the brush of her curls, wishing he could lean in and inhale her sweet scent and lose himself within her.

"Christine, come with me-"

He barely had to utter the words. Her fingers were tight upon his hand, her lips parted, her eyes wide with wonder and complete trust of him, this mysterious figure whose soul was inexplicably bound to her own. He took her firmly and lead her through the mirror, and with that took his love and light deep into his darkness.

"There is no pleasant way to tell you this- I expect that you know it already." Nadir looked uncomfortable and for the first time in this conversation, Christine had to bow her head and bite her lip hard to stop the overwhelming urge to cry out in protest and run away. The past was the past- it could not be changed, she must try to be brave and face it no matter what. "When you realised just who he was, when you...when you saw his face...neither of us blame you, Christine. Anyone would be hurt, I'm sure. Anyone would have been scared and angry."

She was trembling and crying and her fingers felt wet in her ears as she pressed them there to try and blot out the awful crying, the screaming, the shouting, the pain-

"Is this what you wanted to see, Christine? IS THIS WHAT YOU WANTED TO SEE?!"

She had never been so scared in her life. Never wished to be able to go back and change things more than in that one moment. She could barely even bring herself to look at that hideous face, contorted with pain and fury, tears exploding down warped cheeks and stretching with that inhuman howling that made her whimper and cower even more. He was a monster. Nothing but a madman, a true evil monster!

"That doesn't excuse anything." Christine said softly, her voice not betraying that she had just recalled the awful scene, heard his pitiful cries, felt the tremors wrack her body with fright again. "I will never forgive myself, for being so- so blind! I thought he was evil, just for that deformity. How could anyone be so shallow?"

Nadir looked uncomfortable again, to the extent that he actually got out of the armchair by the fire and began to pace slowly, his face furrowed into a look of displeasure. Christine felt her throat go tight as she wondered what she might have said or done to cause such a look upon the Persian's fine features. Raoul looked equally perplexed, which did not help her nerves at all.

"Please don't say things like that." He finally said, sounding troubled. Christine gulped. "Because it...Christine, it was never simply a matter of the deformity. It may have been a stupid, stupid decision on his part, and a shallow reaction from yours, but the chaos and terror that Erik caused during his reign as the Opera Ghost was genuine and monstrous. Don't ever let your guilt lessen that- don't bring any of his demons onto yourself. You were young, you were in love with Raoul, he was jealous and twisted by his past- he should have left you well alone, released you to the light as he always intended. But Erik, you will understand I'm sure, is so complex a man that I doubt even I will ever truly know him. He can be the most gallant, noble and good creature you could ever hope to meet, and yet the most spineless and despicable character the next moment."

"I doubt he ever did anything as atrocious as that, Nadir." Christine murmured, and the Persian looked so sad that she wished she hadn't said it.

"He murdered more than I can count. He stalked you and kidnapped you. He was a vicious bully, who tormented those below his own intelligence and dabbled in all kinds of trickery and foul play just to amuse himself. There were times, Christine, when I wondered why I hadn't had him incarcerated back in the days of Persia, when he had been the relentless criminal I was charged to apprehend." Nadir sounded pained to say it, and Raoul let out an indignant cry.

"Nadir that is far too harsh!" he protested, and Christine briefly wondered when her 'fiancée' had become so fond of his rival in romance.

"Christine needs to know the cold, hard facts Raoul. She needs to know that she was part of a plot to have Erik finally captured and most likely murdered when the accident and the final kidnapping occurred." Nadir replied shortly, and Raoul went pink at the mention of his own foul play. Christine, however, looked horrified.

"I feel as if there has been some mistake- I see what you are trying to do, Nadir, and believe me I appreciate that you are trying to ensure that I am aware of every aspect of my past, but what you have told me is madness! There is no way that I could ever have been a part of a plot to have Erik murdered- I was in love with him!" she sounded so sure of it, seizing onto this one memory that felt as if it were exploding its way back into reality, bright and warm and forcing itself to be known and presented on her lips. "I remember, a frantic plan, an opera, a masquerade ball when I reached out to him as he saw my deceit and fled with tears and anger in his eyes- I remember hiding away on the roof under Apollo's Lyre, making our plans and regretting them with every heartbeat, as soon as the words were out! I remember you coming to me Raoul, arguing with me, and I remember- I remember refusing to help you! I would not help you, I couldn't! Because I loved him! God, I loved him!"

The blood was beating in her head, hard in her veins, making her feel hot and dizzy so that his words were distorted and for a moment she was sure that she had misheard him. But the pain, and the protest, and the simple fact that it would be impossible for her to go along with such atrocious intentions were burning within her with such heat and persistence that she knew she had heard him correctly. He wanted to use her as bait, to lure in the monster, to entice him with soft words and seductive eyes and pretend that she was partaking in his little games, only then to run as they shot him and obliterated him before her eyes. They wanted her lead Erik to his death, blinded by love and obsession for her.

They wanted her to kill him- that was what Christine felt the request entailed. For even if she did not pull the trigger, even if she simply stood on stage to lure him out, she would be killing him!

"No. No I- I can't, Raoul, I simply can't!"

Raoul, Vicomte de Chagny, hadn't intended to become angry- in fact, it was the last thing he wanted to do, already so paranoid and conscious of the tense nature of the situation he now found himself in. But hearing those words were the final straw- his temper ignited, he stood up roughly from the chaise lounge and set into a furious pace across the carpet, muttering obscenities under his breath. From the chaise lounge, Christine had her face buried in her hands, weeping as if the world were coming to an end. It infuriated Raoul- he didn't understand her, her feelings or her emotions, and it seemed so utterly ridiculous to him that he simply could not find the patience to pander to her.

She should hate the beast! She should want him dead- want his ever lingering shadow well and truly banished from their lives, so they might have their chance at happiness, without the need to concern themselves with an obsessive, murdering psychopath!

"And why can't you, Christine?!" he exploded, and she looked at him with a horrified expression, her eyes so filled with grief and guilt Raoul wondered how she was not an inconsolable wreck! But then, she was not far from it. "You wouldn't have to do anything- you would simply go ahead with the opera, as planned, and when he shows himself you provide sufficient distraction whilst the soldiers shoot him and kill him! There's nothing to be afraid of-"

"I'm not afraid!" she exploded, her cheeks dusted red and shining with tears. "Don't you see, Raoul? Don't you understand anything? I don't want to kill him! I don't want him to die! And I especially do not want to help you to do just that!"

"Christine, that monster has terrorised us both, he could have killed you by now-"

"Erik wouldn't hurt me. He- he might do other things, but I know that he would never, ever hurt me." She whispered, bringing her clutched palms to her chest and huddling in on herself.

"Other things?!" Raoul laughed, coldly and harshly. "By other things, you mean kidnap and murder! Christine he has distorted your view, warped your brain, made you think things that are simply not true-"

"Just as you are doing now?!" she demanded, getting up and striding over to him, staring up at him and shouting the words right into his surprised face. "You do not understand Raoul! He- he is not what everyone thinks- there's more to him than all that! And I cannot help you to kill him! I don't care what you do, or say, but I will not facilitate your murderous intentions!"

"Anyone would think you were in love with that monster!"

Love. In love, with Erik. Christine did not know what love was, not anymore- not now that it seemed to be so dark and twisted and convoluted, not simple and sweet and innocent as she had always expected. No, she did not know what love was, but her heart screamed out for him- she knew she could not let him die. She knew she could not be without him.

In that moment, sat sobbing in her dressing room, an irate Raoul pacing in the corner and a costume for Don Juan laid out on the chair ready for that night, Christine Daae realised she was indeed in love.

"So what happened?" she asked with a few tears collecting and slipping down her cheeks. She wiped them away quickly, not bothering to give them any attention or meaning. "I know there was an accident- I know that accident involved the opera, Don Juan, and a chandelier. I know I engaged in a conversation and kissed the male lead onstage. I know all of this- now please, tell me, explain to me how these events could have possibly placed Erik and I so very far apart!"

"You are right, Christine." Raoul said softly, offering her a small smile that was so achingly sad it made sense that his eyes had welled up with tears that he could not repress. "I was there that night, as you recall, watching from the managerial box...watching and waiting for the chance to kill the Phantom of the Opera." He sounded so disgusted with himself, so horrified that he had ever held such animosity towards a man he now held so very dear, and Nadir had to look away or risk humiliating himself with a raw display of emotion. "You finished the climatic duet with Erik- the whole audience could feel the passion from your voice, and the way he looked at you-! Dear God, I was a jealous young fool in those days, watching as you spoke to him and then kissed him, with no shame, no doubt- you knew, without regret, that you loved him and you wanted nothing more than to be with him. I could tell, simply from the way you looked at him."

Raoul's heart squeezed tighter and tighter in his chest, the burning anger suddenly pierced with a brilliant shard of pain and pure jealousy. Her eyes- her eyes were warm and dancing as he had never seen them. Gazing with such devotion, such love, such adoration which he had never managed to inspire- they cared only to look at one man, and that man was not him!

"Erik, so I am told, had unhinged the chandelier earlier that day- he knew of our plans to kill him onstage and he had no intention of being caught. The chandelier was to be his distraction, his escape. But something must have gone wrong, for it suddenly came breaking loose and plummeted straight at you both." Raoul said in a voice that betrayed none of the fear and panic he had felt on that night, watching as the love of his existence was nearly crushed in the arms of his sworn rival. "Erik saved you both- he used a trapdoor, down to the cellar levels..."

Raoul shot Nadir a wide eyed plea then, his young eyes once more filled with tears, and Nadir understood the request. He could not bring himself to tell Christine what happened next, to tarnish his image in her light, and at that moment Nadir was too weary with emotion to deny his request. Especially since Erik had so very often fixed him with that very same look of anguish and helplessness clouding his eyes. He would be the stronger of them and deliver this blow.

"Raoul had made plans for the eventuality that all action failed. He saw that you and Erik had escaped, and knew where you would be. He went to the streets of Paris to fetch a group of men he had hired earlier that evening, and then set about hunting you both down, intending to liberate you and to rid you both of Erik once and for all." Nadir said the words with no emotion whatsoever, and Christine let out a gasp that soon turned to a sob. She began to speak, to plea with Nadir to stop, but the Persian merely closed his eyes and continued, his voice sage. "Raoul and the lackeys found you in the cellar levels- there is a lake beneath the opera house, Christine, a place where Erik had made his domain and his home. Raoul and these men took you by surprise- they seized Erik, and when you tried to break free and run to him, Raoul made a grab for you. You fell, Christine. You fell on the rocks, not even a metre from where Erik lay helpless and watching, and you smashed your skull. The impact and the damage must have left its mark- eleven years of memories, of life, were wiped from your mind from that simple collision."

Christine was sobbing before Nadir even finished speaking, her fingers- trembling- reaching up to that scar on her skull, knowing now that the insignificant little lump there was representative of so much, held so many implications- She knew Nadir had been brutal to ensure she understood, but that didn't lessen the pain of such words.

"A slip on some rocks?!" she sobbed aloud, sounding furious, and she was- furious with herself. "All of that pain, that loneliness, those months of wanting to die simply because I fell and hit my head?! It isn't fair- it isn't fair!"

Raoul gathered her into his arms, holding her close and letting her beat him with her fists and cry out into his chest and Nadir looked away, out to the window where the night was so dark that he only saw his reflection in the glass. When he had become that old, tired, hopeless ageing man was a mystery to him- he had to look away.

"Raoul took you away, away from Paris. That night, when he slept, gypsies decided they liked the idea of a pretty young opera star for their travelling freak show. So they stole you away. Raoul tried to find you as soon as he realised- Erik and I, too, set off from Paris that very night to find you and bring you home. But the clan travelled, out of France even, and it took a year to find you. Erik was scared to risk losing you again Christine- Pali put the idea in his head, and he went giddy with it, even though he knew... he is terrified of losing you. So terrified, that he would drop chandelier and impersonate angels. So terrified, that he would re-invent himself, just to win your heart." Nadir went to the window and turned to face that ageing face again. "You will never understand him, Christine. He is beyond comprehension. But we three share the fact that we love him and I hope that you will understand, that you will sympathise with his ridiculous actions. It is more than he deserves but I fear that it is the only way that either of you will be truly happy."

Christine wiped her glistening cheeks and moved to kneel before the fire, the heat so strong and pushing out at her that she knew she ought to move away, give in to its strength. But she remained there, staring into those dancing flames, remembering how she had danced and whirled and span in gypsy skirts beside a fire much larger than this, constantly seeking out the eyes of the tall stranger she sang with, to see if he was watching her just as she watched him. Her fingers found the place on her skull again, and she found that it did not hurt when she applied pressure- in fact, she felt nothing.

"So that is Christine Daae." She said in a hollow voice, placing her hands then on her heart, feeling the steady pulse, knowing who it ached to beat in synchrony with. "Goodness, I... all that time of feeling insignificant and lonely and small because I did not know who I was, and yet... Now that I know, it hasn't lessened any pain or made anything clearer, it just...I cannot help but wonder if I will ever feel as if I am the real Christine Daae ever again. Or even if I want to be that girl."

"You are Christine Daae now. You've always been." Raoul said softly.

"Fine, then, I am Christine Daae. But being Christine Daae is not enough, it isn't- it- it isn't what I want!" she tried to put it into words, this awful tangle inside her. Her eyes darted across to Nadir, whose own eyes met with hers, and Christine knew that he at least understood her. "I want Erik. I want him here, now, beside me- I want to apologise for all I have done and I want to understand him! I want to push all those echoes and distortions aside, to look upon his face and in his eyes and to know that I am seeing the real Erik staring back at me! You have told me the details of my own life and for that I will forever be indebted to you, but you have told me nothing about his! And if he cannot be here to do that himself, then you telling me is the next best thing."

Christine got up, stumbling a little as her legs tried to remember how to move, and she made her way over to Nadir, seizing his hands in her own.

"I know you understand me. Please, Nadir, can you tell me where he is?"

"If I knew where that damned fool had gone off to, believe me I would have gone after him and brought him here myself, kicking and screaming." Nadir actually cracked a small smile, no doubt imaging the colourful phrases that would fly between them if such a thing were to ever occur. "I do understand you, Christine. And yet I know that even I do not understand Erik, despite being his closest companion for more years than I care to remember- there are parts of his mind, the darkest corners, the greatest pains, that he will share with no one and they push even those who love him away."

"But you have told me nothing about him! I know nothing but that he was an Angel of Music to a weeping child and that he fell in love with that very child and caused havoc in the opera house!" Christine argued passionately. "I know nothing about him, Nadir- the man I fell in love with in the clan was a perfected version of himself and the Angel I fell in love with in Paris was even then a vision. How am I ever supposed to know myself if I do not know the man who holds my very heart and soul?!"

"If we were to tell you Erik's life, Christine, it wouldn't mean anything." Raoul said lamely, not wanting to bring yet more bad news upon her when she was burning so brightly, but knowing from his own experience that hearing Erik's past from someone else like a macabre fairytale was far from ideal.

"So you will not tell me where he is so that he can tell me, you will not tell me yourselves- what am I supposed to do, guess?!" she demanded, getting very red in the face.

Nadir looked up sharply.

"No. Not guess. But perhaps it would be best if you discovered Erik for yourself."

Christine looked warily at the Persian as he stood up and reached for his coat- she glanced to the window, seeing the pitch black and immediately wondering if perhaps her hysteria had been too much. She went to speak, to tell him that it could wait until the morning, but Nadir headed to the door and gestured to her that she should follow.

"Monsieur Khan, I don't quite understand-"

"Come along, Christine. You seem to respond to familiar places- they seem to trigger the memories lying dormant in your brain. Perhaps it will trigger understanding too." Nadir sounded even mildly insane now, and Raoul stood up, worried. "I am going to take you to that very place where your memories were destroyed. I will take you down into the dark, into Erik's world beneath humanity, and perhaps then you will understand him. Perhaps all it takes is a little darkness to bring the truth to light."