GUYS I MADE A FACEBOOK PAGE FOR ALL OF MY FANFICTIONS! AngelDesaray of Fanfiction! Look it up! Go like it! Please!
Oh, and by the way, this chapter is very very very very VERY long...like...In the Thick of Battle long, for those of you that read the Of Love and War series.
Sooooo please review...I think things will start to pick up again in the next chapter, mwahahahaha!
Enjoy!
"But no one ever comes back from the dark side; it's one of the first think a Jedi's taught!" Anakin was currently arguing, sitting next to Aria at the dining room table while she did her homework. She was actually doing three classes at the same time, with her biology and algebra two books open and a notebook with a half-written English essay right in the middle.
Aria chuckled a little. "Well, first of all, it's Luke. Secondly, his father came back from the dark side too. Third, I believe there was also Revan, if I'm not mistaken, if you want a reference you might be familiar with. If you want to be really technical, there was also Galen Marek from The Force Unleashed. Really there's been several."
Anakin shook his head. "It's just...hard for me to wrap my head around. He fell to the dark side, obviously, yet he still came back, but the dark side's supposed to dominate one's destiny forever after they've started on that path. Did he ever fall again?"
"Nope," Aria said. "That I'm pretty sure of. He went on to become the Grandmaster of the New Jedi Order and was...is...one of the strongest Force Sensitive in Galactic History. Arguably, he might be considered eventually more powerful than Master Yoda."
"Impossible," Anakin scoffed.
"Eh," Aria said with a shrug. "I think he was anyway. And that's saying something coming from me, bias aside. I've always thought of Yoda as the strongest light side wielder, so me saying Luke became more powerful than Yoda is saying something."
"I'll believe it when I see it," Anakin said, a final note in his tone.
"That can be arranged!" Aria sang, grinning evilly at him. Anakin rolled his eyes.
"I don't know why I bother to argue with you," he muttered. Aria simply laughed, turning her full attention back to her homework. Padme was in the living room playing with Roxanne, and Anakin watched her in admiration for a few moments before Obi-Wan appeared from the back room, coming to stand behind Aria and peer idly at the work she was doing.
"So, when you're done with your homework, where is it you're taking us again?" Obi-Wan asked curiously. In the living room, Padme looked up from what she was doing to listen as well.
Aria blushed slightly, keeping her eyes down on the worksheet she was finishing up. "Well...um...I'm kind of in a performance tonight...it's a musical in another town...I'm playing the lead role," she said shyly, though a hint of pride showed up in her voice towards the end.
Padme seemed to light up at her words. "We're going to go see a play?" she asked, as if to make sure she'd heard right.
Aria nodded. "Yeah. I won't be sitting with you guys though because I'll be on stage..."
"I think that would be wonderful," Padme said enthusiastically, standing up and glancing between the two boys. "What do you two think?"
"I think it would do us some good to get out of the house and do something relaxing," Obi-Wan said with a small smile. He glanced at Anakin. "Anakin?"
Anakin shrugged and heaved a sigh. "I don't really care what we do so long as I can get out of the house," he muttered. Aria snickered under her breath.
"I figured that was what you would say," she chuckled. "As soon as I'm done with this we'll go."
"What's the play called?" Padme asked.
"The Phantom of the Opera; it's one of my favorite musicals of all time. Actually, I think it is my favorite musical. It's a romantic horror that's been around for a long time, but we're doing the 2004 movie version," Aria explained, turning to the last of her algebra homework.
Anakin met Padme's interested expression with his own mildly surprised expression. This was going to be interesting...
Aria had been a nervous wreck in the car; they were apparently running late, and the frazzled girl was humming and singing random bits of song in the car the entire way to the theater she told them she was going to be performing in. She had, at least, stopped to show them to the best seats—according to her—and told them that the front five rows were off limits for the extras that were in the play before she'd run off to get ready for the show. Why they needed the five rows in front of them for the play, Anakin didn't know, but he didn't necessarily care either. Instead, he looked around the theater as it steadily filled with people. The rear of the theatre was completely normal, while the front looked broken down, like it hadn't been touched in a century or two. Fake cobwebs that looked very real spider webbed all over the five rows in front of them, and a thick layer of dust covered the entire theatre in front of them. The black curtains over the stage were drawn, and the old-fashioned lamps all along the front of the large stage were unlit and also covered in cobwebs. Cobwebs hung from the sides as well as thick layers of dust, with broken old boards littering the floor, stage, and even in the upper levels and boxes around them. Broken curtain rods could be seen in the boxes, and Anakin leaned over to Obi-Wan.
"Do you think the abandoned theater thing up front is on purpose," Anakin murmured. Obi-Wan shrugged.
"I would assume so. I think we'll get our answers when the show starts. Did you notice the large black tarp above us that's hiding the ceiling?" he asked vaguely, nodding upwards. Anakin and Padme looked up to confirm the tarp, held tense and strapped down to the balcony that could just barely be seen up above.
"I wonder what's above it," Anakin mused.
"I guess we'll have to wait and see," Padme said, a note of excitement creeping into her voice. "I do rather like the sound of this play, and it looks like they've spent a lot of time on it. The Phantom of the Opera...I wonder what it's about?" she mused out loud.
"A ghost in an opera house," Anakin supplied with a hint of sarcasm. Padme rolled her eyes.
"Thank you Ani, that's very helpful," she responded even more sarcastically. Anakin chuckled.
"Glad I could be of service Milady."
"I see you've already found your seats."
Anakin jumped slightly at the unexpected voice, looking up to see Alaric watching him with amusement. Anakin scowled just slightly. "When did you get here?" he asked, peering around the man and noticing that the rest of Aria's family wasn't here. "Where are the others?"
Alaric sighed and sat down next to Anakin, stretching his legs out. "Selina's at home with Roxanne, and Joshua doesn't like this kind of thing so he stayed home. I, however, came to support my daughter. I came right after work."
"When's it supposed to start?" Padme asked.
"Any moment now," Alaric assured her. Not moments after he spoke, the lights started to go out one by one until the entire theater was plunged into darkness. Not a soul spoke once the darkness settled, and Anakin strained his eyes to see through the darkness. They remained in the dark until suddenly there was the sound of a match being struck and a single flame appeared right on the stage as the match lit a single candle with a rose with a black ribbon tied around it sitting in front. A soft, haunting voice started to 'oo' an equally haunting tune, their voice carrying around the room before a soft blue light suddenly bathed the aisle off to Anakin's left.
"Paris, nineteen-nineteen," a young man's voice said softly from somewhere unseen.
There was an old man being helped into an old-fashioned wheelchair by a young man and young woman. Once he was situated, the two pushed him forward, carrying him carefully onto the stage as it too was slowly bathed in a soft blue light. Somewhere in the back of his mind, Anakin wondered if the man was really cripple or if that was just part of his character.
When Anakin looked again, the candle and rose was gone, leaving nothing but cobwebs in their wake. The curtains drew back to reveal a very sad looking scene of a broken down stage with a single podium and a pitiful crowd of just a handful of people. It was an auction that the older man was being wheeled to. The auctioneer rattled off details for opera pieces as the old man was wheeled to the side of the auction, though Anakin was more interested in the fact that the old man and one of the elderly ladies at the auction seemed to recognize each other, holding eye contact for several moments as the haunting human-sung melody momentarily resumed before lot 665 drew their attention away from each other.
"Lot 665 ladies and gentlemen," the auctioneer said loudly, his voice carrying. The man spoke too fast for Anakin to hear what the item was other than a musical box still in working condition with a monkey in some sort of robes playing symbols on top of it. "...discovered in the vaults of the theater. Still in working order ladies and gentlemen."
"Showing here," the man holding the music box said, and he started the music box as it played a cheerful tune that seemed out of place in such a haunting setting.
"May I commence at fifteen francs?" the auctioneer said as soon as the short tune had ended. The old woman who'd recognized the old man raised her hand. "Fifteen, thank you."
The old man stared at the auctioneer, raising his hand.
"Yes, twenty from you sir, thank you very much," the auctioneer said, and the woman raised her hand again, staring at the old man. "Madame Giry, twenty-five, thank you Madame. Twenty five I am bid, do I hear thirty?"
The old man raised his hand again, his eyes now fixated on the music box. The auctioneer continued, a little surprised that the music box had such competition. "Thirty! And thirty-five?" the auctioneer asked the woman, Madame Giry, expectantly. The old man stared at her intently, as if begging her not to. Madame Giry glanced at him before shaking her head no at the auctioneer. "Selling at thirty francs then; thirty once, thirty twice, sold for thirty francs to the Viscount de Chagny. Thank you sir."
The music box was given to the old man, who stroked its details like it was a fragile thing that could break at any moment. A male voice sang softly off stage, his voice carrying through the theater.
"A collector's piece, indeed. Every detail exactly as she said. Will you still play when all the rest of us are dead?" the male voice sang before the auctioneer spoke again.
"Lot 666 then; a chandelier in pieces. Some of you may recall the strange affair of the Phantom of the Opera...a mystery never fully explained," the auctioneer said, and Anakin noted that the haunting tune had started once again as everyone turned to stare at...well, nothing for the audience, though Anakin noticed that their gaze was directed towards the tarp up above. "We're told ladies and gentlemen, that this is the very chandelier which figures in the famous disaster. Our workshops have repaired it and wired parts of it for the new electric light. Perhaps we can...frighten away the ghost of so many years ago with a little illumination...gentlemen?"
Up above, the there was a loud snap, and the tarp suddenly disappeared to reveal a large, grand chandelier above the audience, eliciting gasps of wonder as the room was suddenly flooded in dazzling light and an organ started playing a loud, haunting yet exciting piece. A strong wind suddenly picked up in the front of the theater, blowing the cobwebs and dust into the air as the thick black curtain was abruptly dropped and people dressed entirely in black suddenly poured into the theater from behind the stage as the music continued. They ran in front of the stage, through the aisles, climbed up the walls and curtains to the boxes, and appeared everywhere to sweep the cobwebs away and swipe away all the dust that was billowed into the air by the wind. The destroyed debris that had littered the area around them was quickly dispersed of and the front of the theatre suddenly looked sparkling new. Down the left aisle came young men with mustaches and tall hats, one of them with a cane, as they approached the stage and talked excitedly to each other. The loud daunting music continued and one of the black-clothed persons dashed by with a sign that Anakin managed to catch read Paris: 1870. The curtain pulled back as the person dashed away to reveal a grand set-up of an opera house behind the scenes. People in costume and holding costumes dashed back and forth between wooden pillars, up spiral staircases, off and on stage, shepherding props and even a few animals along the way. Anakin's eyes searched the crowd for Aria's familiar face, but so far he could see nothing...
"There she is," Obi-Wan whispered very softly, pointing towards one of the spiral staircases. Sure enough, Aria was hurrying down one of the spiral staircases on the left to stage level, dressed in a gold and red slave dancer outfit. Anakin stiffened slightly at the apparel, but quickly brushed the feeling off as she hurried to her position on the stage, joining a line of ballerinas that were warming up under a strict-looking woman's watch. Another young man came rushing up the left aisle the other three had come from earlier, jumping lively onto the stage to join the three as they all gathered around an extravagantly dressed young woman whose singing was rather...pitchy, to be kind. The haunting music had abruptly ended, the workings of the opera house gradually fading into the back as a rehearsal was brought to the front. Anakin eyed the young woman who was currently singing in distaste and resisting the urge to rub his temples.
"I hope this girl doesn't sing too long," he muttered to Obi-Wan. Obi-Wan didn't say anything in response, but he didn't scold him either.
Anakin breathed a sigh of relief when the girl finished and stomped off stage, cuing the arrival of a small crowd of performers singing in unison while the four men that had come down the aisle conversed together. Anakin wasn't paying much attention, as Aria wasn't on the stage at the moment and he could tell this part was just showing the workings of the opera house. The four men took center stage, interrupting the rehearsal. Anakin noticed that Aria stood off to the side with the other ballerinas, and he momentarily wondered why she was off to the side if she'd said she was a main character. One of the men that had been in the trio spoke, and Anakin decided he'd better pay attention.
"...Madame Giry, ladies and gentlemen, uh, please, if I could have your attention, thank you," the man said, bringing the rehearsal to a standstill. "As you know for some weeks there have been rumors of my imminent retirement. I can now tell you that these are all true, and, uh, it is my pleasure to introduce you to the two gentlemen who now own the Opera Populaire. Monsieur Firmin and Monsieur Andre. I'm sure you've read of their recent fortune amassed in the junk business—"
"Scrap metal, actually," Andre cut the man off indignantly. Firmin spoke next.
"And we are deeply honored to introduce our new patron, the Viscount de Chagny."
Anakin leaned over to Obi-Wan. "The old man from the auction."
"Yes Anakin, I realize this," Obi-Wan muttered back. Anakin took in the young man that had joined the group last, noticing that he seemed near Aria's age, if not a year or two older. He was startled to hear Aria suddenly speak, stepping further onto the stage so she could clearly be seen by everyone beside her ballerina companion.
"It's Raoul," she said breathlessly, her eyes never leaving the young man. "Before my father died, at the house by the sea, I guess you could say we were childhood sweethearts. He called me Little Lottie."
"Christine, he's so handsome," her friend said.
"My parents and I are honored to support all the arts, especially the world renowned Opera Populaire," the young man—Raoul—said.
Some of the leading opera singers were introduced. The pitchy woman from earlier was the leading soprano Carlotta, there was a Piangi...
Raoul promised to keep them no longer from their rehearsal, stating he would return to watch the show later. Aria's character—Christine—watched him leave, her smile growing bitter when he walked right past her without a glance.
"He wouldn't recognize me," she said softly to her friend. Anakin felt a pang of sympathy for her, reminded faintly of his own reunion with Padme.
"He didn't see you," the friend reassured her. Madame Giry shooed the opera owners off the stage so that her ballerinas—which Anakin noticed were now chained together in threes—could take the stage and practice their number.
"We take particular pride in the excellence of our ballet Monsieur," Giry explained to them.
"I see why," Andre replied. "Especially that little blonde angel," Andre said, referring to Aria's friend.
"My daughter, Meg Giry," Giry said breezily.
"And that exceptional beauty?" Firmin asked, pointing at Aria as she danced in the center of the ballerinas. "No relation, I trust?"
"Christine Daae. Promising talent Monsieur Firmin, very promising."
"Daae, you say? No relation to the famous Swedish violinist?" Firmin asked.
"His only child. Orphaned at seven when she came to live and train in the ballet dormitories."
"An orphan you say?"
"I think of her as a daughter or so. Gentlemen, if you would kindly stand to one side," Giry said, ushering them out of the way of the rehearsal. It was a disaster, with costumes getting caught on props and performers unable to get to their spots, but they all still vocally powered through the number. Once more, Anakin found himself resisting the urge to rub his temples at the ear piercing intensity of Carlotta's singing before she blessedly finished. The young woman went on a rampage, declaring she would not sing and starting to walk away. The new managers stared in shock while the other performers smiled and waved or rolled their eyes and huffed at the drama queen.
Anakin didn't really like her.
The two new managers begged the woman to return, showering her with compliments to the point that she agreed to go through one of the songs for them. Anakin braced himself as the woman took center stage, glancing at Obi-Wan. "I should have brought some earplugs, or something to block this woman out. I wish Aria would have warned us."
Alaric tapped him on the shoulder, and Anakin stared at the man's proffered hand in the darkness for a few seconds before he realized there were two earplugs resting in the man's palm. Glancing at Alaric, Anakin noticed the man already had a pair in and was smirking slightly.
"This part is especially painful," he explained quietly, and Anakin gratefully took the earplugs while Obi-Wan shook with laughter. Anakin ignored him and silently cheered on the inside when the man flinched several times from Carlotta's voice which Anakin could hardly hear.
Suddenly Anakin saw Meg scream and grab Aria and he pulled the earplugs out as a backdrop from above fell, narrowly missing Carlotta but pinning the woman to the floor in her heavy costume. Alaric grasped Anakin's arm gently before he could stand, sitting him back down.
"It's part of the show," Alaric explained softly, and Anakin slowly settled back down. He noticed a cloaked figure in the shadows above, but he was gone just as quickly as he'd appeared.
"He's here; the Phantom of the Opera," Meg said in a hushed whisper to Aria. Madame Giry wandered away, picking up a piece of parchment that had fallen to the floor.
Carlotta got up, angrily exclaiming that she was tired of these accidents happening the past three years before she stormed out, leaving the new managers and the composer in distress. The original manager started to leave before he came to a stop, turning back to the two new managers.
"Gentlemen; good luck," he said simply. "If you need me I shall be in Australia."
"Oh..." the composer said in distress as the old manager left.
"Senior, Giudicelli, she will be coming back, won't she?" Andre asked. The composer threw his hands up in the air, turning away in frustration.
"You think so Monsieur?" Giry asked Andre, a small letter held in her hand. "I have a message sir, from the Opera Ghost—"
"Opera Ghost, you're all obsessed!" Firmin scoffed, but Giry simply continued.
"He welcomes you to his opera house—"
"His opera house?"
"—and commands that you continue to leave box five empty for his use, and reminds you that his salary is due."
"His salary?"
"What? Monsieur Lefevre used to give him twenty thousand francs a month," Giry said casually, slinging her braid over her shoulder nonchalantly.
"Twenty thousand francs?"
"Perhaps you can afford more, with the Viscount as your patron?"
"Madame, I had hoped to make that announcement tonight public when the Viscount was to join us for the gala. But obviously we shall now have to cancel as it appears we have lost our star!" Firmin raged, ripping up the letter and tossing it on the ground.
"Surely there must be an, ah, um, uh, understudy!" Andre stated desperately.
"Understudy?" the composer asked incredulously. "There is no understudy for la Carlotta!"
"A full house Andre! We shall have to refund a full house!"
"Christine Daae could sing it sir," Giry suddenly said, placing her arms on Aria's shoulders and pulling her forward. Aria's eyes went wide as she was pulled towards the two new owners.
"What, a chorus girl? Don't be silly," Andre scoffed.
"She has been taking lessons from a great teacher," GIry pressed.
"Who?" Andre asked skeptically.
Aria's smile was slightly pained. "I don't know his name Monsieur..."
"Let her sing for you Monsieur," Giry insisted, standing beside Aria. "She has been well taught."
"All right...come on, don't be shy," Andre said, ushering Aria forward to the front of the stage. Aria stepped hesitantly, her gaze flickering around towards everyone around her. "Come on, come along, just..." Andre muttered, trailing off.
"From the beginning of the aria then please Mademoiselle," the composer said tiredly, taking up his position at the front of the stage.
"This is doing nothing for my nerves Andre," Firmin muttered.
Beautiful, soft music started up—the same song Carlotta had been butchering a few moments before—and Aria took a few deep breaths, preparing herself. The Star Wars trio found themselves leaning forward in their seat, for they had heard her sing for the fun of it and wanted to know how she sang when she put all of her heart and soul into it. In the background, Andre and Firmin continued to bicker softly until Aria opened her mouth and sang.
And oh, did she sing in the voice of an angel.
"Think of me, think of me fondly when we've said goodbye," Aria sang, her voice pure and bright. The other performers slowly came back to the stage, gathering around simply to hear her sing as everyone stared in open shock at her. "Remember me once in a while, please promise me you'll try. When you find that once again you long to take your heart back and be free; if you ever find a moment, spare a thought for me."
The lights went dark, and Anakin and the others could no longer see the stage, but they could hear the music reach a crescendo and see people moving swiftly in the dark. The light gradually returned to show the boxes and the five rows in front were full of people before the spotlight shone on Aria once again, showing her now dressed in a grand white dress instead of the dancer outfit as the song continued, most likely now taking place the night of the performance.
"We never said our love was evergreen or as unchanging as the sea, but if you can still remember; stop and think of me. Think of all the things we've shared and seen; don't think about the way things might have been. Think of me, think of me waking silent and resigned. Imagine me, trying too hard to put you from my mind. Recall those days, look back on all those times, think of the things we'll never do. There will never be a day, when I won't think of you."
The spotlight split and shifted from Aria to show a cloaked figure hiding in the shadows by the top of the stage, his face hidden as he watched her. Under the other spotlight was the young man Raoul from earlier in one of the opera house boxes, who stood once Aria hit the high note.
"Can it be...can it be Christine?" Raoul sang before he momentarily switched back to a normal speaking voice. "Bravo!" he shouted, standing and clapping before he leaned forward on the edge of the box and continued his short song that reminded Anakin of his own reunion with Padme...minus the song of course.
"Long ago, it seems so long ago; how young and innocent we were! She may not remember me, but I remember her..."
"Flowers fade, the fruits of summer fade; they have the seasons so do we. But please promise me that sometimes you will think..." Aria smiled and took a breath, momentarily meeting the eyes of her four friends in the audience before hitting a high and very beautiful series of notes that gradually went up and then descended to a low alto before she suddenly burst forth with the end in a full on soprano that filled the theater. "Of me!"
She waited expectantly, showing that it was the end of the piece as everyone rose to their feet to give her a standing ovation and a huge grin danced across her face and she bowed humbly.
Padme leaned over to address Alaric. "You have a truly talented daughter Alaric," she complimented, her eyes dancing with joy. Alaric smiled gratefully at her.
"I know; I couldn't be prouder."
It was further into the play; Aria and the character of Raoul had been reunited, they had heard the Angel of Music song that Anakin now realized Aria had been singing the entire way down to the theater, heard Christine's story, seen Giry hand Aria a red rose with a black ribbon tied around it stating that 'he was pleased with her', had seen the cloaked figure lock Aria into her room—unbeknownst to her—while Giry looked on, and was now watching Aria as she prepared to leave her dressing room in the opera. Anakin had a feeling something was about to happen...
A drumroll started and all the candles went out except for the lights on the stage that lit the scene. The flowers, mirrors, and dresser cast long shadows across the room as Aria looked around both fearfully and expectantly. Suddenly a male voice—one they had only heard whisper Christine's name three times by now—boomed throughout the room and could be heard clearly and powerfully through all the theater the audience sat in.
"Insolent boy this slave of fashion! Basking in your glory! Ignorant fool this brave young suitor, sharing in my triumph!" the voice sang powerfully, and Aria looked slowly around the dressing room, turning from the door.
"Angel I hear you; speak, I listen. Stay by my side, guide me. Angel my soul was weak, forgive me. Enter at last, Master," she sang back timidly, looking around the room hopefully.
"Flattering child you shall know me; see why in shadow I hide. Look at your face in the mirror; I am there inside!"
The center mirror slowly started to slide back to reveal a man dressed in all black with a black cloak and a white mask that covered half of his face, and Anakin felt somewhat entranced finally seeing the mysterious Phantom that everyone was talking about. Mist started to snake its way through the dressing room as Aria walked forward as if in a trance, singing the entire way.
"Angel of Music, guide and guardian, grant to me your glory. Angel of Music hide no longer; come to me strange angel!"
Suddenly, the music changed to a dark, foreboding melody that sent shivers up Anakin's spine and the Phantom started to sing in a low, equally chilling voice.
"I am your Angel of Music...come to me Angel of Music..."
Raoul appeared off to the side, trying and failing to open the door and instead rattling the doorknob before he spoke in a loud voice that was not loud enough to break Aria's trance. "Whose is that voice? Who is that in there! Christine, Christine...!"
"I am your Angel of Music...come to me Angel of Music," the Phantom sang hauntingly, holding out his hand for Aria to take.
"Don't do it," Anakin muttered, suddenly overcome by the want to run up on stage and shake Aria out of the trance and pull her as far from the Phantom as possible.
The music held the last note as Aria reached for the Phantom's proffered hand, and the moment she took it the backdrop fell with a flash of light that hid the action and the new dominating note that revived the tune that had played when the chandelier was revealed. The new backdrop was of a stone passageway, and the only light was the spotlight on Aria and the Phantom while shadows moved onstage to arrange the labyrinth of the Phantom's domain. The Phantom lead Aria forward down the narrow passage, and Aria began to sing a beautiful yet haunting song.
"In sleep he sang to me...in dreams he came. That voice that calls to me...and speaks my name. And do I dream again? For now I find the Phantom of the Opera is there...inside my mind..."
As the pair moved, Anakin noticed the scenery shifted constantly, showing them going through 'tunnels' that the Phantom navigated them through. The Phantom was the next to sing.
"Sing once again with me; our strange duet. My power over you grows stronger yet. And though you turn from me to glance behind; the Phantom of the Opera is there, inside your mind."
"Sounds a lot like the dark side," Obi-Wan quipped softly from beside him.
"Shh!" Anakin and Padme reprimanded him simultaneously. They were both too engrossed in what was happening to realize the irony of what had just happened, as they were distracted by the scene of the Phantom bringing Aria to a small boat and guiding them along a mist covered lake.
"Those who have seen your face draw back in fear...I am the mask you wear..."
"It's me they hear," the Phantom finished before the two started to sing in unison.
"Your (My) spirit and my (your) voice, in one combined! The Phantom of the Opera is there inside my (your) mind..."
Aria sang alone again as they slowly entered the Phantom's lair and the end of their journey appeared in the form of a cave. "He's there, the Phantom of the Opera..." she started to sing high notes in a constantly climbing 'oh' while the Phantom serenaded her.
"Sing my Angel of Music! Sing my Angel...sing for me! Sing…Sing my Angel! Sing for me!"
Aria let out one last note that was a borderline scream, and Anakin and Padme shared a glance at the pure high note that emanated from the girl before the song came to an end and the next song approached.
All the Music of the Night song did was convince Obi-Wan more that the Phantom was like the dark side and give all of them an insight to the Phantom's character as well as his musical prowess that enchanted Aria's character Christine. After that, however, was when things began to rapidly spiral out of control...
By the time Raoul and Aria were making their escape to the roof after the Phantom had killed the stagehand, Anakin was rather conflicted by the character of the Phantom. The Phantom was in love with Christine and was obviously struggling with how to show that, but he had made some serious mistakes starting with his violent outburst towards her when she'd removed his mask—a violent outburst that had Alaric grasping Anakin's arm to keep him from launching himself up on stage. Oh, Anakin really wanted to know what was under that mask to cause such an outburst, but he had the feeling it would be a while before he could see...then of course there was this new murder that had just happened. Now...Aria's rushed, passionate, fierce song was rather captivating and made him believe this was all really happening. He hardly even heard Raoul's part of the song.
"Why have you brought me here..." Raoul was singing as Aria charged ahead, leading the way up towards the roof by the spiral staircases.
"We can't go back there..." Aria sang in reply.
"...we must return..."
"He'll kill you! His eyes will find us there!"
"Christine don't say that!"
"Those eyes that burn!"
"Don't even think it!"
"And if he has to kill a thousand men—"
"Forget this waking nightmare!"
"The Phantom of the Opera will kill and kill again."
"This Phantom is a fable, believe me, there is no Phantom of the Opera..."
"My God who is this man? Who hunts to kill..."
"My God who is this man, with his mask of death—"
"I can't escape from him, I never will!"
"Whose is this voice you hear with every breath?"
"And in this labyrinth where light is blind; the Phantom of the Opera is here, inside my mind—"
"...there, inside your mind. Christine, there is no Phantom of the Opera!" Raoul sang as they finally reached the roof. The stage floor had been transformed to a rooftop scenery while they had climbed up two flights of spiral stairs and then down two more; a snow covered rooftop. By now Anakin was starting to admit that the Phantom did play a character that seemed to hold the role of the dark side, but with what he knew about the character...he wasn't sure if the Phantom was truly the villain, even after the murder...
The song continued, and Aria's passionate tone continued to captivate Anakin and convince him of the illusion of the play, his attention drawn solely upon Aria and the rose from the Phantom she held clutched to her chest.
"Raoul I've been there; to his world of unending night. To a world where the daylight dissolves into darkness...darkness...Raoul, I've seen him! Can I ever forget that sight? Can I ever escape from that face, so distorted, deformed, it was hardly a face in the darkness...darkness..."
Suddenly, Aria turned away, a strange look of enchantment appearing on her face as she continued and started slowly walking away from Raoul. "But his voice filled my spirit with a strange, sweet sound; in that night there was music in my mind. And through music my soul began to soar! And I heard as I'd never heard before..."
"What you heard was a dream and nothing more," Raoul insisted, causing Anakin to scowl. It had not been a dream; and Anakin secretly wished that Aria's character of Christine would not listen to Raoul. His eyes were momentarily drawn away from the pair as he noticed the shadow watching them from behind a statue, causing dread to start to settle in. This wasn't going to be good...
"Yet in his eyes all the sadness of the world...Those pleading eyes, that both threaten and adore..."
Anakin heard a sniffle, and he looked over to see that Padme was so moved by the song at the moment that she was trying to silently cry. It wasn't working though. In his mind, Anakin cursed Obi-Wan for sitting between the two, otherwise he would comfort Padme.
"Christine, Christine," Raoul sang up on the stage, though it was the Phantom's voice that turned Aria's head.
"Christine..." the Phantom sang softly from his hiding spot.
Anakin watched, pained, as Raoul sang his love and devotion to Aria, and it was when he found that their declaration of love towards each other pained him that he realized he was on the Phantom's side in all this. Either that, or he couldn't stand the fact that the Phantom was hearing and seeing all of this and he felt for the man. Still, either way, he was siding with the Phantom at the moment and wondered silently if the others were rooting for Raoul or the Phantom. Inside, Anakin shriveled and felt his heart ache for the Phantom when Aria and Raoul kissed; why did he have to see that of all things?
The newly minted couple turned and left, with Aria leaving the rose from the Phantom in the snow on the ground. The Phantom emerged from his hiding spot, picking up the rose before he sang in a quiet, shaking, brokenhearted tone.
"I gave you my music...made your song take wing...and now, now you've repaid me...denied me and betrayed me..." He pressed the rose to his lips. "He was bound to love you, when he heard you sing...Christine..."
For a moment, the Phantom simply sat there and cried...then he heard the couple singing off stage and the pain morphed into fury while he crushed the rose in his grasp, trembling from his rage.
He dropped the demolished rose to the ground, running to stand on top of a statue and declare the thoughts of his heart for the whole world to hear. "You will curse the day you did not do, all that the Phantom asked of you!"
"Definitely the symbol of the dark side for this story. I would say Raoul is the symbol of the light side," Obi-Wan said beside him, and Anakin had to bite his tongue. If he was to put the Phantom into a category he'd put him on the very edge of the dark side, so close to the light but right below the line. If there was a gray side of the Force, Anakin would have put this Phantom in that part of the Force.
"This is going to go so, so bad," Padme was whispering as they watched the scene in front of them in terror.
It was the Phantom's play. The masquerade ball had already happened where the Phantom found out about the secret engagement to Raoul, the Phantom's story had been told (finally), the trap had been laid out for the Phantom, Raoul had almost killed the Phantom in the cemetery when Aria's character when to visit her dead father, and now...now the Phantom was on the stage with Aria, and it seemed that Aria had made her choice, singing a song about the point of no return with the Phantom and currently held in the Phantom's embrace. Raoul stood watching with tears in his eyes, also believing that Aria had chosen the Phantom over him as the Phantom started to sing a very familiar song...
"Say you'll share with me one love, one lifetime. Lead me, save me from my solitude...Say you'll want me with you here...beside me..." the Phantom sang, his voice momentarily clogged with emotion as Aria turned around to stare at him, gently placing a hand on the Phantom's cheek while he clasped his hand over hers. "Anywhere you go let me go too! Christine, that's all I ask of—"
Suddenly Aria ripped the mask off of the Phantom, and the Phantom's grotesque deformity that took up half of the Phantom's face was revealed. Whoever their special effects person was, they were good at their job, because the deformity was very convincing.
The Phantom stared at her with a look of raw and utter, broken betrayal, seemingly near tears as he searched her eyes with the 'why?' expression. The screams of the performers and the cast in the first five rows roused the Phantom to action, however, and he looked around sharply before he pulled out his sword and cut a rope. There was the sudden sound of chinking glass up above them, and the Star Wars trio looked up to see the chandelier swinging dangerously above them. Once more, Alaric reacted, putting a hand on Anakin's shoulder.
"Part of the show," Alaric assured them as the chandelier suddenly dropped, swinging forward. Up on the stage, the Phantom grabbed Aria and they disappeared down a trapdoor while the people in the row in front of them started tripping over each other trying to escape the falling chandelier. Anakin had to force himself to stay in his seat as the giant wall hanging swung down, coming very close to the tops of the chairs and it swung into the stage, hitting the curtain just as the lights went dark. The screams continued, and the performers and Raoul could be heard as they continued on in the darkness.
"Oh my—we're ruined Andre!" came Firmin's voice. "Ruined!"
"Where did he take her?" Raoul demanded of someone, and an orange glow that was probably meant to be fire appeared to bathe the stage in a reddish-orange glow. Anakin could now see that Raoul had found Madame GIry, and that was the woman he was talking to, with her daughter standing off to the side.
"Come with me Monsieur; I will take you to him. But remember; keep your hand at the level of your eyes!"
"I'll come with you," Meg said.
"No Meg, no! You must stay here! Do as I say!" Giry demanded before she ran off stage with Raoul. Meg turned and stopped the crowd that was trying to follow after them.
"No!" she told them all as the curtain dropped. There was a few more moments of silence where there was the sound of fire crackling and the occasional scream and running feet. Finally, the curtain started to lift again, and the Phantom's song could be heard before the curtain even started to rise.
"Down once more to the dungeon of my black despair, down we plunge to the prison of my mind! Down that path into darkness deep as Hell!" The Phantom practically screamed the last word, dragging Aria roughly down into his lair and causing Anakin to grit his teeth. He pulled her roughly to a stop, twisting her wrist painfully as he was obviously overcome by rage and betrayal. "Why, you ask, was I bound and chained in this cold and dismal place? Not for any mortal sin, but the wickedness of my abhorrent face!"
The stage went black again and the mob could be heard chanting. "Track down this murderer, he must be found. Track down this murderer, he must be found..."
The light blared to life and the Phantom and Aria were once more in his lair as the Phantom stumbled onto the dry ground, continuing his tortured song as he dragged Aria along with him. "Hounded out by everyone, met with hatred everywhere, no kind words from anyone, no compassion anywhere; Christine...why?" When Aria didn't respond to his sobbing plea, he shook her gruffly. "Why?"
The pair disappeared into darkness once again, and they showed Raoul once more but Anakin didn't care. Let the man drown for all he cared at the moment, he just wanted to know what would happen between Aria and the Phantom; he wanted to know what came next.
When the light finally shone on Aria and the Phantom again, Aria was dressed in the white wedding gown the Phantom had shown her at the beginning of the play, approaching the Phantom in determination and her own attempt at bravery despite the situation.
"Have you gorged yourself at last in your lust for blood?" she sang in a confrontational voice. "Am I now to be prey to your lust for flesh?"
The Phantom eyed her with a look that made Anakin squirm in his seat before he replied. "That fate which condemns me to wallow in blood, has also denied me the joys of the flesh." He stroked her face, but Aria turned away, and even though it seemed impossible, it was like the Phantom broke a little more at her reaction. "This face, the infection, which poisons our love...This face which earned a mother's fear and loathing. A mask, my first, unfeeling scrap of clothing..."
The Phantom took the veil of the wedding gown in his hands, forcing it upon Aria's head. "Pity comes too late! Turn around and face your fate!" The Phantom yanked Aria around so she would look him in the eyes. "An eternity of this...before your eyes..." the Phantom sang, jabbing a finger at the deformity on his face as he spoke. He picked up her hand, and Anakin was close enough to see that it was the engagement ring Raoul had given her that the Phantom had taken that he was pressing into her palm tenderly.
Aria stared at him, pulling the veil off her head and letting it drop to the floor as she came to stand beside a mirror in the Phantom's lair, pulling a heavy red cloth off of it so the Phantom could see his reflection. "This haunted face holds no horror for me now...it's in your soul that the true distortion lies."
The Phantom looked down and away from Aria in shame, and it seemed for a moment as if Aria had gotten through to him-she sure had stirred something up in Anakin. However, there was the sound of sloshing feet, and the heartfelt moment shattered as the Phantom spotted Raoul, who had just appeared from the side of the stage.
"Wait! I think my dear, we have a guest!" the Phantom sang.
"Sir!" Raoul stated, coming to a halt.
"Raoul!" Aria cried out, rushing forward. She dared not try to rush past the Phantom though. The Phantom was smiling rather wickedly as he sang his part.
"This is indeed an unparalleled delight. I had rather hoped that you would come. And now, my wish comes true. You have truly made my night!" The Phantom pulled Aria close to him, and Aria struggled against him.
"Let me go," she pleaded.
"Free her! Do what you like, only free her! Have you no pity?" Raoul sang desperately.
The Phantom turned to Aria. "Your lover makes a passionate plea."
"Please, Raoul, it's useless!" Aria sadly sang.
"I love her! Does that mean nothing? I love her! Show some compassion!" Raoul declared, but he seemed to have hit a nerve as the Phantom whipped around, his face contorted in fury.
"The world showed no compassion to me!" the Phantom snarled.
"Christine, Christine, let me see her..." Raoul pleaded.
"Be my guest, sir..." the Phantom said, stepping back to allow Raoul to approach Christine. Raoul cautiously began to walk forward, glancing at the Phantom a few times.
"It's a trap you idiot," Anakin muttered. "Not a bright one, are you?"
"Monsieur, I bid you welcome. Did you think that I would harm her? Why would I make her pay for the sins which are yours?" The Phantom threw a lasso around Raoul's neck on the last word, dragging Raoul back.
"No!" Aria cried out, taking a few unconscious step forwards. The Phantom plunged on, tying Raoul to a candelabra that was embedded into a rock as he continued his song of vengeance.
"Order your fine horses now! Raise up your hand to the level of your eyes! Nothing can save you now, except, perhaps, Christine..." the Phantom sang, turning to Aria as he continued to secure Raoul to the candelabra. "Start a new life with me; buy his freedom with your love! Refuse me and you send your lover to his death! This is the choice; this is the point of no return!"
Aria stared at him, tears streaming down her face as she slowly started to sing in a soft voice that gradually came to a powerful end that caused Anakin to recoil from its intensity. "The tears I might have shed for your dark fate...grow cold, and turn to tears of hate!"
"Christine, forgive me, please forgive me...I did it all for you and all for nothing!" Raoul sang while Aria started to serenade the Phantom desperately.
"Farewell, my fallen idol and false friend; we had such hopes, and now those hopes are shattered!" Yet the Phantom seemed unfazed.
"Too late for turning back, too late for prayers and useless pity!" the Phantom sang in reply.
"Say you love him and my life is over!" Raoul told Aria before the Phantom cut in again.
"Past all hope of cries for help. No point in fighting, for either way you choose, you cannot win. So do you end your days with me? Or do you send him to his grave!" the Phantom sang, tightening the noose around Raoul's neck with the last word.
"Why make her lie to you to save me?" Raoul growled.
"Angel of Music, who deserves this?" Aria sang, rushing into the lake.
"For pity's sake, Christine, say no!" Raoul implored her. "Don't thrown your life away for mine!"
"Past the point of no return, the final threshold!" the Phantom declared.
"Why do you curse mercy?" Aria asked weakly.
"His life is now the prize which you must earn," the Phantom declared, tightening his hold on the noose.
"I fought so hard to free you," Raoul sang gently.
"You've passed the point of no return," the Phantom finished, though Aria had one last line of song to deliver in a voice of pure betrayal.
"Angel of Music, you deceived me..." the three on stage stopped singing, returning finally to normal voices starting with Aria. "I gave you my mind, blindly!" Aria whispered shakily, her voice echoing around the deathly silent room.
"You try my patience. Make your choice!" the Phantom hissed, tightening the noose and causing Raoul to gag.
Aria stared between the two, fresh tear streaks on her face. Anakin sat at the edge of his seat, tense in anticipation to see what her choice would be. Finally, Aria took a breath and sang in a soft, haunting voice that was full of feeling that went beyond acting. For a moment, Anakin thought that she'd glanced his way before she sang, but he figured it was just his imagination.
"Pitiful creature of darkness...what kind of life have you known?" Slowly, she started to approach the Phantom, who stood completely still in the lake, the rope now hanging loosely in his hands as she grew steadily closer. "God give me courage to show you, you are not alone!"
Anakin couldn't help but gasp a little in surprise when the girl reached up and kissed the Phantom passionately and without fear to a grand instrumental piece of the Angel of Music. Aria pulled back, staring at the Phantom in wonder simply to reach back up and kiss him yet again. Once Aria pulled away, the Phantom began to sob brokenheartedly while Aria watched him in wonder. Off stage the mob, which Anakin had completely forgotten by now, could be heard continuing their chant as they grew nearer.
"Track down this murderer; he must be found! Hunt out this animal, who runs to ground..."
The Phantom stumbled away, turning away in shame.
"Take her, forget me, forget all of this! Leave me alone! Forget all you've seen. Go now, don't let them find you!" he said in his broken, sobbing tone before he morphed back into song. "Take the boat, swear to me never to tell the secret you know of the angel in Hell."
Aria had rushed over to Raoul and freed him immediately, and the two were held in a loving embrace. When the Phantom saw that they were still there, he sang in a thundering voice that broke at the end. "Go now! Go now, and leave me!"
The stage went dark for a moment, and when the spotlight gradually returned the Phantom sat in front of the monkey music box from the beginning of the play, watching it play with a childlike look of fascination on his face while he sang the song in a soft, broken tone.
"Masquerade, paper faces on parade...Masquerade; hide your face so the world will never find you..." He looked up and the light expanded to show Aria standing just off to the side, watching him in pity and with a conflicted look on her face. "Christine, I love you..." the Phantom whispered in song.
Aria's eyes softened slightly and hope rose on the Phantom's face, but she said nothing, instead she stepped forward and gently pressed the ring he'd given her into his palm and closed his fingers over the ring as tenderly as he had her. Aria stared at him sadly, squeezing his hand before she slowly turned and disappeared off stage, leaving the Phantom staring after her, now completely broken. The Phantom slowly started to walk after her, coming to a stop when he heard Aria and Raoul singing their song of love and devotion. Tears streamed down his face, but he did not go into a rage this time and instead sang softly after her disappearing voice.
"You alone, can make my song take flight..." he sang in his whispery voice before he turned to the mirrors, stumbling towards them and grabbing a candelabra off the floor. "It's over now, the music of the night!" he sang in his powerful voice, smashing each mirror one by one until finally the third one shattered and he stepped through it, letting a curtain cover the revealed entrance. Once that curtain fell, the mob appeared, led by Meg. Meg was the one who stumbled across the monkey music box and the Phantom's mask, holding the mask in her hand until the curtain over the stage fell. There was several moments of silence, but the lights did not raise, so the audience stayed in their seats. Then, the eerie blue light from the beginning of the play reappeared, and the old man was being wheeled down the aisle on Anakin's left, drawing his attention. Anakin watched the old man—Raoul—as he was wheeled on stage and the curtains peeled away to reveal a snowy cemetery, and Raoul was brought to a gravestone that clearly read Christine. He waved away the other two people's help, shakily set the music box at the foot of her grave. He sighed, getting ready to turn away before he suddenly halted, his eyes going wide as he slowly reached down out of sight of the audience and pulled out...
...a red rose, with a black ribbon tied around it...the ring Christine had given to the Phantom settled at the center of the ribbon. Raoul looked around, trying to see if he could find the one who had placed the rose. Before the curtain fell, Anakin could see a familiar black robed figure move from behind a gravestone to disappear off stage.
Once the curtain fell, the lights came on and the audience collectively rose to their feet, cheering in a standing ovation. The Star Wars trio joined them in the applause eagerly, and Anakin looked over to see that Padme had tears streaming down her face. He too, admittedly, was a little choked up, but he wasn't going to say anything about that out loud. Obi-Wan had that moved look on his face, though there were no tears visible in his eyes.
Alaric shone with pride as the curtains peeled back with the cast lined up to take their bows, the main characters in the front. Aria stood smiling in between the Phantom and Raoul, leaning over to talk to the Phantom every now and then with a grin on her face. The woman who had played the young Madame Giry stepped forward with a microphone and started to introduce the cast, starting with the stage hands and cast from the theater they were performing in, the stage hands and cast from a local college, and then the stage hands from the high school. She started introducing the high school cast, starting with the extras and working her way up to the stars of the show.
"Our Viscount de Chagny, Raoul, was Michael Warsh," she said, pausing to let the audience cheer for him before she continued. "Our star of the show, our Christine Daae, was Aria Neads."
The crowd erupted in deafening cheers and whistles, including the Star Wars trio up front. The Phantom stepped forward, holding Aria's hand and presenting her to them all for the praise while she blushed, bowed, and mouthed thank you. Madame Giry—who had announced herself as Miss. Jennings—waited for the cheers to die down before she continued. She waited quite a while.
"And finally, our Phantom of the Opera, Dimitri Pewter," she said, and Dimitri grinned, picking Aria up off the ground and starting to take off with her.
"Christine!" Michael shouted while Aria laughed hysterically and clung onto Dimitri for dear life. He disappeared off stage only for a moment before he reappeared and set Aria back on the stage and stepped back, kissing her hand and then clapping for her. Aria blushed, and Obi-Wan leaned over to speak to Alaric.
"Are they a—" he started to ask, but Alaric cut him off with a laugh.
"They're cousins," he told him, shaking slightly with the laughter. "There's nothing going on there."
"Got it," Obi-Wan said with a nod.
Miss. Jennings thanked the cast and crew as well as the audience, and then wished everyone a good night before the curtains fell once again. Alaric tugged on Anakin's arm.
"Come on, she's going to meet us out front," he said, nodding towards the aisle. Anakin, Obi-Wan, and Padme followed Alaric through the crowd to stand outside at the front of the theater, waiting patiently for Aria to return. It took her a while, but she did eventually emerge, her hair and make-up still intact but back in her street clothes, the red rose from the very end of the show clutched in her hand complete with ribbon and ring. Padme squealed and rushed up to her, wrapping her arms around the girl.
"That was absolutely amazing Aria! You should have told us you were such a great actor, and oh, you sang like an angel! Angel of Music indeed!" Padme gushed, causing Aria to blush a dark red.
"She's not one to flaunt her gifts, you have to find them out yourself," Alaric said with a grin. Obi-Wan nodded, coming to stand beside Padme.
"It was an extraordinary performance; one I don't think I'll ever forget," Obi-Wan complimented her politely. Anakin was a lot more straight-forward.
"I loved it; it was great, and I agree with Padme about the Angel of Music thing. Though I think it would have been better if Christine chose the Phantom instead of Raoul," he said pointedly, giving her his signature half-smirk. Aria snorted, shaking her head.
"You do not realize how ironic that is," she chuckled. "Though I must say, I agree with you on that. I've always thought Christine should have picked the Phantom as well. If I didn't have to stick to the script, I would have done just that."
"Well come on you guys, we need to head back home," Alaric said, pulling out the keys and slinging them around in a circle on his finger. Aria rolled her eyes.
"Dad, I'm the one who drove us here," she pointed out.
"Yes, I know that; I'm just saying we need to get out of here, so this conversation can continue later," he chuckled. Aria smiled.
"All right Daddy, I love you, I'll see you at the house," she said earnestly. Alaric smiled and pulled the girl into a hug.
"You were outstanding, sweetheart," he murmured before he let her go. "Drive safe."
"I will," Aria promised, and she turned away to head back to the car they had come in. Anakin jogged to get even with her. She simply laughed at his question.
"What do you mean by ironic...?"
