Author's note: Yay! New chapter! I can update before I go! We'll find out more about this Djali person now. A note: this chapter begins with a point of view other than Christine's. It's not a flashback, it's happening at the same time as Christine's adventures. Just FYI
Disclaimer: POTO is not mine, nor is anything else you may recognize.
Erik woke up, his head feeling as though a thousand buffaloes had walked on it, than decided to take a nap between his temples while snoring loudly. In short, it hurt a lot. What was more, he had no idea where he was, except that he was in a small room with no windows and a barely noticeable door, which opened just as he was looking at it, and in came Mathieu.
"Tell me where I am, you bastard," growled Erik.
Mathieu shook his head disapprovingly. "Now, now Erik, there is no need to use that sort of language. And as for your query, we are still in France. But your darling Christine is in Persia. She seems to be under the impression that we took you there." He grinned.
Christine in Persia? She came to rescue me?
"Why are you looking for Erik?" Djali repeated the question, for Christine was simply staring at her, dumbfounded.
Finally, Christine came up with, "Whatever do you mean, madam?"
Djali shook her head disapprovingly. "You are not the type who can lie. You are looking for your…phantom? Is this the correct word?"
Avoiding the question, and seeing that Nadir would be no help (he was watching the exchange with some amusement) she changed the topic slightly, saying, "How do you know Erik?"
Djali smiled, but her eyes glazed over, remembering.
"Why have I never met your little brother, Matty?" an 8-year-old Djali asked a 10-year-old Mathieu.
"Because he would make you blind! He scared our mother, he scared your mother, and he even scares ME sometimes!" Mathieu said with utter conviction.
"Why did your family leave France? You never told me, Matty." Djali decided to ask all the questions Mathieu had never answered.
"Why do you think? It was because of Erik, the Demon! He made my mom die and then everyone in Rouen thought he was a devil. They're right! He would scare the scariest scary thing ever!"
"Well, why does your family never invite guests over except me?"
"Because of Erik! It's all Erik's fault, and you can come over only because daddy knows that I'll protect you from the Demon."
"I want to see him," said Djali.
"No!"
She stomped her foot down. "Matty, I will never talk to you again if you don't let me see your brother!" she yelled.
"Fine, fine—the way you're yelling everyone would think that Erik was attacking someone again." He gave a devilish grin, than walked to the door of the playroom where they were playing and opened the door. "Erik, you can come in now," and turned back to Djali, who was looking to the door with eager eyes. Erik must have been close by, for it was only a few moments before Erik came to the door. Djali couldn't tell right away, but he looked normal to her—a kid about her age, with his head hung low. Than he looked up at her, and she screamed, not hearing Erik's repressed sob at the scream.
"I am his cousin," Djali responded to Christine. "Cousins meet each other."
"Fine, all right. That's beside the point anyway. I wished to ask you where Erik is. That is, where would Mathieu take him?"
"I am afraid I have no idea where they are. Perhaps you could try Djali," Djali said with a straight face.
"Sorry? Aren't…aren't you Djali?" Christine asked in confusion.
"I believe this Djali is referring to the Djali who was engaged to Mathieu, correct?" said Nadir.
Djali nodded. "She would know."
Christine sighed. "All right then, let's go," she said, and stood up. She nodded to Djali. "Thank you for your help."
"Of course," Djali purred.
Once Christine and Nadir were in the rickshaw again, Christine turned to Nadir and said, "I have some questions for you."
"Very well."
"First of all, why is this the same rickshaw we were in before? Why did you tell him to wait? You knew that this Djali wouldn't have any information."
'That's not strictly true," Nadir said. "She did give us the other Djali's address, which I did not have."
"Second, why did this Djali know that Erik was captured?" She glared at Nadir.
Nadir laughed. "I'm sorry; it's simply that I can see your mind working frantically around what has just happened. We're all part of a conspiracy and I'll be leading you all around Persia in hopes that you will never find Erik, correct?"
"Well…" when phrased like that, it sounded silly.
He smiled. "It's fine, I don't blame you for wondering. I told Djali in Farsi why we had come, which is why she asked you why you were looking for Erik. I brought you to her in the first place because I thought she could give us the address of the Djali that I wanted us to talk to. Do you still think I have an ulterior motive?"
"No. I'm sorry for being suspicious."
"You had every right to be so. Let's just hope this Djali can actually help us."
Christine nodded, and looked at the streets of Tehran, wondering if she had made the right decision. The impact of what she had done was finally hitting her. She was thousands of miles away from home, she couldn't speak Farsi, and she based her coming to Persia on a brief comment she had heard Mathieu make. How on earth would she find Erik, and even if she did, how would she save him? She wouldn't be able to right off anyone, and Nadir could only help her so much. She shook her head of these doubts. She would worry about that once she knew for a fact exactly where Erik was.
When they reached the new Djali's place of residence, after they had been let out, Nadir said, "I shall begin out this conversation speaking French so there is absolutely no confusion," and he knocked on the door.
A woman who Christine was sure was Djali opened the door. This Djali was tall and majestic—she almost looked like a princess, complete with a sort of royal air. She was also incredibly attractive.
"Nadir Khan?" she asked hesitantly in a rich voice. Nadir nodded, and she squealed and hugged him tightly to her chest, surprising Christine. It seemed a distinctly un-Persian thing to do for a woman. She said something in Farsi, but Nadir responded, as per his promise, in French.
"I am well, thank you, but I wish to speak French—we have a Frenchwoman with us," he said.
Djali let go of Nadir and looked at Christine critically. "Where did you get that hair change?" she said in a thick accent.
"The hair style?" Christine said in confusion. "I got it here, near the train station."
Djali nodded. "I see. No matter, you come in anyway," she said, and led them in, holding Nadir's hand. She led them to a lavish sitting room, obviously attempting to be European. However, it failed miserably at this. They sat down, and Djali said, "So why see me madam?"
"I wanted to know if you had heard about Mathieu's capture of Erik, and to see if you knew where they were," said Christine.
"Mathieu and Erik!" Her eyes lit up. "They kiss both well, but Erik better." She grinned.
"WHAT??" Christine cried. Erik had kissed this woman? Why? When?
"Yes, Erik was nice at me," Djali smiled.
"Get away from me!" cried Erik. He was backed in a corner as this attractive teenager named Djali came at him.
"You're 17, Erik darling. You need to have your first kiss!" Djali whispered in Farsi, and leaned towards him and gave him a tender kiss. "There, didn't you like that?"
"No! Don't you realize that you are kissing a monster?"
Djali blinked, repressing the memory that had come up. "Is Erik nice at you too?' she asked Christine.
She sighed. "Yes, he is," was her only response. Djali had disconcerted her, as she was also making her terribly jealous.
"As to where he and my old fiancé be…"
"Fiancé? Were you engaged to Mathieu?"
Djali smiled. "Of course. I think he would be at the sultana's home. He liked learning there, even except Erik is best."
"Of course!" interrupted Nadir. "A wonderful idea, Djali." He stood up, bringing Christine with him. "Thank you very much."
"You stay, Nadir of course?" Djali asked.
He shook his head. "I go with Christine." And they left. While driving once more in the rickshaw, he said, "I am sorry, Mademoiselle Daaé, I had forgotten how flirtatious Djali is. Regardless, the idea of going to the sultana was a good idea."
"Very well," Christine murmured. Ordinarily she would have asked more about this sultana, but she was lost in thoughts of Erik. He had had some sort of romance before her. What if his entire infatuation with her was nothing more than a method he underwent in order to win a girl's heart? Was he worth all this trouble? Maybe she should consign him to his fate—after all, was he truly worth all this trouble? Her heart sunk as they drove closer to the sultana.
Erik was starving. His throat was dry, and his head still hurt incredibly. But now he had a purpose. He had to escape to find Christine. She was alone in Persia—searching for him! He felt that he could endure all this pain if he kept that in mind: Christine was looking for him.
Note: Such troubles! I hope Christine hasn't lost heart yet—she's close to finding some real information. Hope you all liked this chapter; please review, my friends!