PP12: Woo! Finished Chapter 5! Hope y'all enjoy it~

Phantom of the Opera is respectfully owned by Gaston Leroux and Andrew Lloyd Webber, and Kuroshitsuji is proudly owned by Yana Toboso.

The production of Il Muto had finally arrived.

Inside the London Opera House was a gathering ocean of audiences, filling the empty seats in a blink of an eye. The chandelier above them shone magnificently like a trophy coated in gold, and the sound of tuning violins and brass sounded from the orchestra below the stage, where the rich red curtain hid the scene that was about to perform.

The managers ushered their way through the crowd along with Elizabeth who followed behind. "Quite a lot of people who came tonight," Randall commented as soon as he found two empty seats for them. Abberline flashed a grin.

"Well of course," he smiled, "It is a performance not to be missed, after all."

When the managers took their seats, Elizabeth curtsied at them. "Enjoy the show, gentlemen. I shall be sitting in Box Five."

"Do you really think that's wise?" Randall inquired but with a growing smirk. The patroness laughed softly.

"Sir Randall, there appear to be no seats available other than Box Five."

"But it could be dangerous," Abberline added, "Are you certain that-"

"Please Abberline, I will be fine," Elizabeth said back with a confident smile as she manoeuvred her way through the audience. She looked up at Box Five to see that it was empty and took a deep breath.

I will protect you, Ciel.

Elizabeth walked up the stairs and she looked around to see the dimming of the lights and the murmuring from the audience began to soften into silence. The curtain slowly rose and there was applause, and the girl took her seat to observe the show.

The setting was an elegant bedroom where a giant bed was placed on centre stage, draped with purple curtains and sheets. The drapes were drawn to reveal Grell as the Countess and Ciel dressed in a maid's outfit, both appearing to be 'kissing' behind a fan. Elizabeth put a hand over her mouth to stifle a giggle.

"They say that this youth has set my Lady's heart aflame!" a cast member playing the role of Countess's confidante announced as she appeared on stage, wearing abnormally round glasses. She was accompanied by two men glancing at the bed with comically shocked expressions.

"His Lordship will surely die with shock!"

"His Lordship is a laughing stock!"

"Should he suspect her, God protect her!" the confidante exclaimed as the three huddled together. "Shame! Shame! Shame!"

Grell and Ciel parted when the fan was lowered and he forced a wide smile when Grell took his hand.

"Serafimo, your disguise is perfect!" he praised, cueing the boy to jump up and twirl in the maid's outfit and head over to the drawers with a feather duster in his hand.

I hate this and I hate you….Ciel grumbled in his thoughts. The scene was advanced by a knock on the door, and Grell lifted his head.

"My! Who can this be?" he recited, before the Countess's husband played by a smiling Chinese man appeared onstage.

"My Love," he declared, "I am called to England on affairs of State, and I must leave you with your new maid." He turned to look at Ciel who was busily dusting the bed and jokily shaking his behind, his cheeks burning with embarrassment when he heard the audience laughing. The Chinese man chuckled as well. "Though I'd happily take the maid with me."

Just you try! Ciel thought with a scowl.

There was a content laugh from Grell as he fanned himself. "The old fool is leaving!"

"I suspect my bride is untrue to me," the Countess's husband sang as he turned to the audience, "I shall not leave, but shall hide to observe…."

The bass singer extended an arm out to Grell lovingly. "Addio!"

"Addio!" Grell called for lasting seconds, before the Chinese man ran off and hid behind a drawer. Grell waved him off and quickly pulled Ciel on centre stage.

"Serefimo, away with this pretence!" Grell yanked the frilly skirt from Ciel's waist, revealing his striped pants. The huddled three hairdressers on left stage shielded their eyes as the material was flung to the side. "You cannot speak, but kiss me in my husband's absence."

The pair sat on the bed and Grell held out his arm towards Ciel. The boy froze, gazing at the length of his arm and felt like running offstage. He clenched his fist and wished the ground could swallow him whole.

Fine, but I'm not doing this because I want to!

Hesitantly Ciel brought his lips to Grell's arm and the exuberant music resumed. Grell smiled widely.

"Poor fool, he makes me laugh! A-ha-ha-ha-ha! Time I tried to get a better, better half!"

Just kill me now… Ciel thought when he reached his shoulder. The Chinese man behind the drawer theatrically threw his fists in the air in rout as the rest of the cast chorused along with the soprano.

"Poor fool, he doesn't know! Ho-ho-ho-ho-ho! If he knew the truth, he'd never, ever-"

"Did I not instruct that Box Five was to be left unattended!?"

Elizabeth gasped with fright when a furious voice boomed across the theatre and a startled commotion sounded from the audience. The managers worryingly looked around and up at Box Five where Elizabeth sat, her eyes wide with fear.

"It's him! The Phantom of the Opera!" one of the performers cried and prepared to run off before a hand stopped her.

"Calm down, Mey-Rin! It's going to be fi-"

One of the stage lights suddenly burst and flickered out, causing Grell to shriek. Ciel widened his eyes when he figured out who the voice belonged to.

"Dammit…." he murmured, "It's him."

After Grell took some deep breaths and straightened his composure, he irately grabbed the boy's arm, glaring daggers at him. "Your part is silent!" he hissed in a whisper. Ciel tried to move away from the soprano's face that loomed near his. "Little toad."

"A toad, Sir?"

Grell whipped his head up in outrage, offended and with eyes burning with rage. "Excuse me-"

"Perhaps it is you who are the toad."

The soprano fell silent. With an annoyed huff he exchanged glances with the conductor who raised his shoulders in confusion, while Ciel looked at Box Five and his face lit with dread when he noticed Elizabeth within it.

"Maestro," Grell muttered as he cleared his throat. The scene then resumed after the awkward halt and he dragged Ciel to the front. "Serefimo, away with this…." Grell stuttered seeing the skirt already removed. "Pretence….er….you cannot speak! But kiss me in my- OUAGH!"

Grell widened his eyes in surprise and raised a hand to his throat when a hideous croak escaped his throat. In the distant wings of the theatre, a low ghostly chuckle rang out. The cast members twittered in confusion and there was a muddled murmur within the audience. Ciel remained silent when it clicked in his mind exactly what was happening.

"So you chose now to mess about?" he murmured quietly, gazing at the ceiling with a sigh.

The music started up again and Grell inhaled deeply. "Poor fool…he makes me laugh…." he sang nervously. "Ah-a- OUAGH! OUAGH!"

The ghostly laugh grew wilder and louder as Grell croaked uncontrollably, the revolting sound mingling with the phantom's growing laughter. His face was red from embarrassment while he tried to form the correct notes that were supplanted by unsightly croaking.

"Behold!" the voice bellowed, "He is singing to bring down the chandelier!"

Ciel started snickering behind the palm of his hand when the croaking grew worse, and soon he couldn't contain himself and fell to the floor, hollering with laughter. Grell glowered at the laughing boy.

"Why are you– OUAGH! Laughing – OUAGH! Y-you twit!"

The managers in the front row started to panic. "This is not good," Randall frowned as he watched the disastrous sight. Grell covered his face in shame as the croaking got hoarser.

"What is – OUAGH! H-happening?!" the soprano squawked after another croak left his lips and eventually he rushed off the stage, sobbing in humiliation. The cast members ran after him except Ciel who had to pick himself off the floor from laughing too much. Abberline soon got up and made an appearance in front of the stage.

"Ladies and gentlemen," the manager announced calmly, "The performance will continue in ten minutes time...when the role of the Countess will be sung by Ciel Phantomhive. In the meantime, we will be giving you the ballet of Act Three of tonight's performance." He nodded at the conductor and the dancers quickly hurried onstage as the setting transformed into a forest, and Ciel hurried offstage where he witnessed Grell wailing his heart out.

An eerie laugh, creepier than the phantom's, drifted from the fly system above the stage. Undertaker sat there with a wide grin, dangling his feet while chewing a dog biscuit.

He snickered. "Well this is fun indeed…."

He was occupied on his treat that he never noticed a looming presence nearing towards him that held a length of rope that was securely knotted into a noose. While the ballet dancers performed below them, Sebastian slowly approached him, making sure he was completely hidden.

But his presence didn't go unnoticed by Elizabeth. Along the peak of the backdrop revealed a stalking silhouette of the phantom. Alois soon saw it and danced out of step.

Undertaker turned around and met a threatening grin and glowing crimson eyes, and in a flash the noose was bound around his neck. It was a short battle between them as Undertaker struggled to escape, and with a rough push Sebastian let him fall over the fly gallery. The rope held him up as he dangled for all eyes to see, his face completely hidden by his long silver hair.

The dancers shrieked and scurried off the stage when the body was released and collapsed on the stage. The audience freaked and the panicked murmurs turned into frightened screams, and the spectators hurriedly left their seats to exit the theatre. Behind the drop, the silhouette vanished but a spectral cackle remained, ringing out in wicked glory. Another laugh merged with it that belonged to Undertaker as if his own ghost lingered in the theatre after his death.

The managers rushed onto the stage and tried to calm the terrified flock of spectators. "Ladies and gentlemen, please! Remain in your seats!" They glanced at the corpse with horrified eyes and Abberline went over to drag the body away. Randall continued placating the audience. "It was an accident!" he exclaimed, "Simply an accident!"

Elizabeth dashed out of Box Five and through the wings of the stage. "Ciel!" she cried as she ran through backstage. Ciel hurried out of his dressing room wrapped in a satin robe and collided with Elizabeth, and before he could say anything she took his hand and tugged his arm. "Come with me!"

"No!" the boy shouted as he pulled her to a different direction. "We're going to the roof, it's much safer there."

They hurried up the stairs with Ciel leading the way while the performers and backstage crew hastened within the theatre. Ciel never stopped to rest as he hurriedly ran, keeping his grip on Elizabeth's hand firm until they reached the entrance to the roof.

It was nightfall when they arrived with stars blanketing the sky, and the city below them were lit with golden lights. No-one else was around but them.

"Ciel, slow down!" Elizabeth breathed. Ciel let go of her hand and paced around the gable as the girl followed him. "Why are we out here? We must return!"

"No we can't!" Ciel objected. "He'll kill you!"

"Don't say that," Elizabeth said and rushed to calm him, but he hastily turned away.

"You don't understand. He will kill, even if it has to be a thousand men! He'll kill me!" Ciel couldn't keep himself still and kept wandering around the rooftop. "I can't escape from him, even if I want to! He's always there in my mind. I can't get him out-"

"Ciel!"

Elizabeth grabbed his shoulders and stared intensely at his eyes. "There is no Phantom of the Opera! It's all an allusion! It all has to be a myth!"

Ciel hardened his face. "You're wrong."

"How do you know that?"

"Because I've seen him!"

Ciel tore away from her and buried his face in his hands. Elizabeth stood there with shock plastered on her face. "W-what?"

Ciel turned to meet her shaken eyes with a beaten look and slowly walked towards her. "I've…I've been to that world," he murmured softly, "Where the daylight dissolves into darkness. I've been down that path deeper than Hell. Elizabeth, I've seen his face."

Her eyes widened. "His face?"

"I can never forget that face." Ciel shuddered when he remembered the ghastly form he witnessed in the labyrinth. "So distorted….so deformed….it was hardly human." Ciel sighed and gazed at the starry sky. "And yet….his voice filled my spirit with a strange, sweet sound. It lured me with comfort, though I know now it's….it's…."

"It was all a dream," Elizabeth finished for him, "And nothing more."

Ciel shook his head. "It was far too real for it to be a dream."

He suddenly stopped when he heard a familiar voice singing an alluring tune in his mind, causing him to block out whatever Elizabeth was saying to him.

"What's with that look?" she questioned, waving her hand in front of his face. He blinked and immediately the voice was gone.

"N-nothing."

Elizabeth frowned, unconvinced, and pulled him into a short embrace. "I promise, Ciel. Everything will be alright."

Ciel was silent for a moment until the mysterious voice quickly returned and he hastily pulled away from her, threading his fingers through his hair and tugging it as the voice continued to sing. "Shut up..." he growled, gritting his teeth and moving towards the edge of the roof. He shut his eyes in agony when the singing refused to stop.

"Come to the Angel of Music..."

"Leave me alone!" Ciel yelled, not caring if the entire city heard him. "Shut up! I said STOP!"

"Ciel, whatever is the matter?!" Elizabeth cried out to him, rushing towards him. The boy eventually gave up and fell to his knees, his eyes filling with tears as the voice slowly disappeared into nothing. His breathing calmed down but the boy was still shaken, torn by whether he should trust his cryptic teacher or not. Elizabeth felt her heart break watching the person she loved drowned in helplessness. She had no idea of the relationship between him and the phantom, but the thought scared her a lot.

Cautiously, she knelt beside him and tentatively placed her hand on his back.

"No more talk of darkness," Elizabeth crooned gently, "Forget these wide-eyed fears. I'm here, nothing will harm you. My words will warm and calm you." Ciel turned his head to meet her comforting smile. "Let me be your freedom, let daylight dry your tears. I'm here, with you, beside you...to hold you and to hide you."

She placed her hands against his own. "Let me love you every waking moment. Turn your head with talk of summertime." Her eyes softened when she spotted a loose tear fall from Ciel's eye, and she wiped it away. "Let me be there with you now and always...I promise you that all I say is true."

Ciel looked down at their hands and without knowing it, a small smile crept on his face.

"That's all I ask of you," he whispered inaudibly.

Elizabeth's smile grew wider and she lifted him to his feet.

"Let me be your shelter, let me be your light," she beamed, never releasing his hands, "You're safe; no-one will find you. Your fears are far behind you!"

Ciel took a step back and Elizabeth loosened her grip. "All I want is freedom," he confessed, "To escape from his eyes. I dread the day I met him..." His eyes gazed at hers almost pleadingly. "Help me to forget him."

Elizabeth nodded and took his hands again. "Then say you'll share with me one love, one lifetime!" she entreated with a beaming smile, "Say the word and I will follow you. Share each day with me, each night, each moment."

She lightly cupped his face and her heart bounced with happiness when Ciel reached his hand to touch hers. "Anywhere you go, let me go too…" They both said nothing for a few seconds as they locked gazes that contained promises, wonder, and love. "Ciel…that's all I ask of you."

"Lizzie…" Ciel murmured, stunned and overcome by the feeling of hope. Elizabeth giggled.

"It's about time you called me that."

The boy blushed when he remembered that her hands were still upon his face and looked away. "So…does that mean you….love me?"

Elizabeth answered with a wide smile and another soft laugh. "You know I do."

There was no time to say more because the tower bell within the city suddenly struck eight o'clock, and Ciel remembered that his cue to perform in the theatre had arrived. Ciel took her wrists and pulled her into a hug.

"I have to go," he said with a smile, "They'll wonder where I am."

"I'll wait for you then," Elizabeth responded and confidently leaned to kiss him on the cheek. The look on Ciel's face afterwards had the patroness giggling.

"Stop distracting me," Ciel groaned, trying to act serious although the smile on his face never left, and his eyes lit up when he thought of an idea. His hands found hers again. "We should plan a day," he said, "A day doing what we loved to do when we were younger."

The girl widened her eyes and they seemed to twinkle like the stars. "Really? You mean the picnics along the riverbanks?"

"Yes, just you and I."

"And I'll get to dress you up in gorgeous dresses again?"

Ciel blushed harder and quickly shook his head. "Alright, maybe not that."

Elizabeth laughed. "I'm teasing you." She threw her arms around him and even if for a little while, all of Ciel's fears were forgotten as they embraced under the stars. Elizabeth released him but took his hand and started heading for the roof exit. "Let's go back or you'll miss your cue."

"We've been out here for too long already," Ciel agreed, following her and the two disappeared together from the rooftop.

The area was then empty, or so it seemed.

Emerging from the statue upon the gable was a figure draped in black, and upon his face was an obscuring white mask. His eyes blazed dangerously as he watched them leave.

"How irritating…" Sebastian snarled quietly, a murky aura beginning to form around him. He left his hiding spot and gradually the aura grew bigger. "It seems I have come across a pest."

Sebastian slid the glove off with his teeth that exposed the demonic pentagram glowing brightly, and a sinister chuckle left his lips. "She has made a bold action indeed, interfering with what belongs to me."

Fangs peaked from his maw when he grinned. "The game is now afoot."

The phantom vanished in a blink of an eye and the murky aura disappeared in a thick cloud, travelling downstairs and within the grand theatre where the remainder of the show had resumed. Ciel appeared on the stage in the Countess's outfit, curtsying as the audience applauded. But above their heads, the luminous chandelier started to rock unnoticeably at first until it deliberately swung harder. The chains holding it up loudly creaked and one by one each light bulb flickered, and Ciel looked up and gasped to see the chandelier moving.

Abruptly the lights exploded with a loud sound. Sparks flew everywhere and before the audience had a chance to escape, the chandler descended to the crowd and the theatre was plunged into lasting darkness.

PP12: The lyrics I have mentioned are from songs Poor Fool and All I Ask Of You, both which you guys should look up because they are fantastic pieces of musical literature. Also, do let me know if you recognised the servants and Lau in this chapter. Hehe.

Please R/R :)