Doubled-up chapter. At the break it switches to 1870.

Noir44

Ari Nadir and Sanjeev Desai were about to tell their driver to follow the Persian carriages when Sanjeev spotted his daughter in the window. Without a word to his companion he threw the door open and raced up the steps of the Inn, shouting for his daughter as he ran to the second floor.

Ursula appeared in the doorway, her usually straight face weary, her body bent and tired.

"She is very upset," Ursula said as she stepped aside for Mr. Desai to enter.

One look at his daughter and he could have guessed what had happened.

"Are you harmed?" he asked.

Corinna shook her head. She looked away from her father and bowed her head. "Anisha has left."

"I received word that she had been kidnapped," Mr. Desai said.

Corinna shook her head. "She has left," she repeated. "And now he will die."

"What has happened here?" her father questioned.

She collapsed in his arms, sobbing at first and nearly screaming at the end as she told him everything she knew. She could barely catch her breath as she continued begging her father to do something, anything for Mr. Levesque.

"Mr. Nadir is here with me. We will do everything we can to find him."

"I will go with you," Corinna replied. She scanned the room until her eyes fixed on the tubes of drawings. "I must go with you."

"My dear, I will not allow it. You will return to London with Ursula at once."

"I can't leave him," she protested through her tears.

"Corinna, my word is final. You will go back to London at once and wait for me there."

His daughter stared back, her eyes filled with tears. She nodded slowly knowing there was nothing she could do. She turned and wobbled away, collapsing at the end of the bed where she folded her arms and began to cry anew.

"I love him," she managed to say. "I love him."

Three days passed and Erik survived on nothing more than water. Bound at the wrists and ankles, he was kept under constant surveillance by the Sultana's guards while they escorted him westward across India.

"Shame, shame, shame," the Sultana said as she gazed at him.

She sat perched across from him in the carriage, her body leaning to one side. Erik sensed her satisfaction in the words but said nothing. There was little he could do to ease the suffering he knew would come in the days ahead.

"You have disappointed me, Frenchman," she said as she tilted her head back and gazed at the ceiling. "I looked forward to killing you months ago and you haven't put up much of a fight. Tell me, where is your spirit?"

Erik made no reply. He stared at the empty space in the carriage, his eyes heavy, his mind unable to focus on anything other than pain. The Sultana had put forth orders that he was not to sleep. Every hour of the day someone stood over him and kept him from dozing long. Everything around him felt stretched, slowed down to a miserable pace.

"Have you lost your tongue?" the Sultana questioned.

Erik's eyes rolled back, exhaustion overpowering his senses. His head bobbed forward and touched his chest but he made no attempt to right himself. The first stage of torture seemed worse than the flogging he had endured in Persia. At least he knew when the flogging would end. Sleep deprivation could go on for many more days, weeks even, he realized.

The Sultana turned to her guard and nodded before rapping on the carriage window. Within moments the driver slowed the horses and the carriage came to a stop.

"Teach him a lesson," the Sultana said to her guard. "He has clearly forgotten that I do not tolerate insolence."

The Goddess 1870

Erik replaced his mask while The Goddess donned her walking cloak. Once she was dressed she stopped and waited for him to offer his arm before they walked down the rickety, uneven staircase together.

The streets on the darkest side of Paris were rarely empty at night. Whores needed money and their johns needed satisfaction. They met early in the evening and hours before dawn, scurrying like rats down alleys to find places to mate.

The smell of refuse lingered in the air as they stepped onto the curb and followed the crumbling cobblestone path west, leaving the district where Erik had first seen The Goddess in her window.

"Where are we going?" he whispered as they entered an alley.

He held her close to him, protecting her from the eyes peering out from the shadows. The Goddess smiled inwardly at this gesture, at his possessive nature. Though firm, his grasp on her was not uncomfortable. She knew he was afraid to harm her, to bruise her in any way. He would do anything to please her.

Before morning, his wishes and hers would be fulfilled.

"You will see once we arrive," she answered enigmatically. "No more questions. I tire of it, Erik. You will do as I say when I say it. Is that understood?"

"Yes."

"Yes what?"

"Yes…Goddess," he answered with care.

No other words were exchanged as they disappeared into the night, walking through puddles, down narrow, unlit streets until they came to a desolate corner where a carriage and two horses waited.

Erik looked at her with uncertainty, nostrils flared, eyes begging for answers. He had stumbled several times in his exhaustion and appeared ready to sit a while. He was also still starving, as she had heard his stomach growl as they walked.

"Stay here," The Goddess instructed as she turned to leave Erik in the darkness.

He clung to her a moment longer, and she knew he was unsure of whether or not she would abandon him on the street and ride away. She felt his reluctance as she pried his hand away, one finger at a time.

"Only a moment," she assured him. Her eyes narrowed unexpectedly, her tone changing. "If I do not change my mind and leave you here."

The Goddess walked to the front of the carriage and peered up at the waiting driver draped in a black cloak.

"Have you found him?" the man asked.

She nodded. "He came to me just as I expected. He looks worse than you said, though. Every time I see him he's thinner…falling faster, I suppose."

"I doubt he had much farther to fall," the man said under his breath.

"Yes, I know. I see it in his eyes."

The man was silent a moment. Eventually The Goddess saw him nod solemnly. She knew he was reluctant to aid her in this fruitless search. He had told her weeks ago that her quest was in vain, that sometimes people cannot be saved no matter what. He didn't understand why she wanted him back.

"Have you made a decision?" he asked.

"As I see it, there was never a decision that needed to be made. I knew what I wanted and now I have it."

"Yes, Miss, but that was long ago. He has changed—"

"Outside, not inside. I still see the same man looking back at me."

The driver gave a disheartened sigh as he climbed down from his seat. "You don't know what I saw beneath the opera house, my dear. He is a dangerous man, an angry, lost man. Whatever you believe he was long ago…he has changed. You need to be very careful around him. His temper…"

"I will find Erik again," The Goddess assured him. "I will bring him back."

"Are you certain you can do this?" the man asked. "If you fail…"

The Goddess smiled. "I will not lose him," she said.

He hesitated, his lips twitching from a frown to a weak smile. "Does he know who you are?"

She shook her head. "He doesn't want to admit it," she answered. "And I don't want him to believe I still exist. It's…" she smiled wanly, choosing her words with care. "It's easier this way. For now."

Disappointment showed in his eyes but he agreed nonetheless. "Very well, my dear, I will respect your wishes."

The Goddess kissed her old friend on the cheek. "Thank you, Daroga. Thank you for finding him."

"I do it because I had great respect for your father, my dear." He paused and took her hands in his. "And because there would have been greater things at stake had I not agreed. I trust, my dear, I trust you will do what is right."

"Will you speak with the Chagny boy again?"

He shook his head. "He took the young lady and left. North, I think, where they met long ago. They should be wed by now. Why do you ask?"

"He had quite a scare. I wondered how he fared now." She grunted. "He was appalled when I said I was looking for the Phantom. The poor man."

"I doubt they will ever return here," the Daroga answered.

The Goddess nodded and turned away, finding satisfaction in his words. She had hoped Christine would leave Paris. It would be easier to find Erik and separate him from the Phantom if she was gone.

It would have been even easier had Christine never existed…

From the corner of her eye The Goddess could see Erik waiting for her still, wringing his hands and shifting from one foot to the next. He still had not put complete faith in her. The struggle was only beginning, she thought morosely. Fifteen years of solitude and grief needed to be undone. Perhaps Ari was correct. The days, months, years ahead would be difficult, but in the end she knew it would be worth it.

"I will take him home now. Do you remember the way?"

"Of course," the old man nodded. He took The Goddess by the arm one last time and looked into her dark eyes. "You are the only one capable of helping him," he said simply. "I have no doubt he understands that."

The Goddess retrieved Erik and led him into the carriage. She sat across from him, her eyes studying his posture, the visible side of his face and his distant gaze.

"When was the last time you bathed?" she asked.

He glanced at her a moment before lowering his eyes. "The night the chandelier fell," he answered.

The night he had stolen Christine from the stage, she thought. The night he expected to make her his bride. He had cleaned and prepared himself for her, for their wedding bed. The thought angered her but she didn't voice her jealousy.

"Tonight," she purred softly, catching his attention. "You will bathe again."