"So because of your… face you were shunned?" Eponine whispered. "Even with all of your talent, knowledge and accomplishments?"
The masked man nodded. "It is a cruel world where you are judged by your looks before anything else."
The two were sitting in Mr. Y's – Erik's – underground workroom talking over tea like two old friends. Erik had removed full mask and replaced it with a much smaller one; this one only covered the right side of his face, showing off the perfection of the rest of him.
Eponine's heart went out to him. He had been abused most of his life and had been called 'an angel with the face of the devil'. But he was charismatic and charming and a genius. Why he had helped to build the Paris Opera, where he had lived most of his life. And she really couldn't blame him for haunting the building; he hadn't intended to hurt anyone.
"Everything went awry with Christine," he told her. "I just wanted to befriend a sad child. She was so lonely and I knew that pain, so I pretended to be her Angel of Music. Just being there day after day sing with her from the other side of the mirror should have been enough. She was radiant up on that stage."
"What about all those deaths?" Eponine questioned.
"Propaganda," he told her. "Nothing but a hate campaign by those managers who were wrapped around Carlotta's little finger. Even though Christine was a sensation they were being pestered by their jealous diva. So when I gave them an opera to perform - one that would showcase Christine's talent – they took action to get rid of me."
"So… they set you up?" Eponine was appalled.
Erik nodded. "I already had a reputation because a stage hand slipped and accidently hung himself. I was blamed because this man, a friend of Madam Giry's, helped spread ghost stories about me. So everyone thought I had silenced him to keep my secrets."
"What happened with your opera?"
Erik stared into his wine glass. "Everyone had been working on this show, making it perfect to bait a trap for me. It was too much for Piangi, their tenor. I heard something in his voice that wasn't right, so I went to investigate. The poor man died of a heart attack and no one knew because he was hidden to make a dramatic entrance. I put on his cloak and went out to sing with Christine because the show must go on. Well, someone fired a shot and it hit one of the ropes holding the chandelier, sending it crashing into the pit."
Eponine's eyes were huge. "That's awful."
"The ropes were ragged," Erik explained. "They were going to replace them soon, but then this happened and the opera was ruined. The chandelier took out the first few rows of the audience as well and Raoul was lucky to crawl out of the pit with only minor injuries. On stage Christine and I were hit by debris and she was knocked unconscious. I took her away to tend to her wounds and; as predicted, Raoul and his brother came after us. Philippe drown in the underground lake and Raoul was beyond reasonable. We fought and he stabbed me, though he'll tell you I tried to kill him. He spirited Christine away and because of her injured she believed everything Raoul told her. Madam Giry and Meg found me and tended to my wounds and we left Paris. We came over here and I bought the freak show on Coney so that people like me could have a place to be themselves. But I never stopped pinning for Christine."
Eponine wrung her hand. "So… so why did you bait them to come here?"
Erik sighed. "Because I'm a shell of a man, Eponine. I've pinned too long for a woman who would never love me. There have been too many sleepless nights where I've tried to think up some way to win her back. But I knew it was hopeless unless she was happy with her Viscomte. I needed one last heartbreak to free my mind."
Eponine covered his hand with hers. "So you invited them here to see if they really are in love?"
Erik nodded. "And they are, the boy proves it. Raoul seems to treat her right and she's happy with him. But now they know I'm here and I fear a confrontation because that hot headed fop still wants my blood for his brother's death."
"Maybe we can talk him down," Eponine offered. "They'll listen to me, I know it."
Erik smiled a sad smile. "That's just what Christine said. "She told me 'Raoul will not be jealous of my teacher'. That's all I was to her, a teacher." He shook his head. "Eponine, you're young and you have your whole life a head of you, don't make my mistakes."
She squeezed his hand tighter. "What mistakes? All you did was love someone… Oh." She lowered her head. "Oh."
"My pinning for Christine kept me lonely and holed up. Thinking I could make her love me, obsessing over that, has stopped me from trying to find happiness. I've been helping Meg achieve her dreams of being a star, but my passion is gone."
Eponine swallowed thickly. "Maybe someone needs to help you."
"But who would?" Erik questioned. "Who would want to be close to this face? Even my Christine was frightened away."
"I'll tell you who: someone who needs help herself. Someone who knows this pain. I don't want to be with Enjolras and I can never have Marius. Will you help me by letting you help me?" She touched his unmarred cheek.
"What… what are you doing?"
"Finding out who you really are. Erik, please this off and let me see you."
