Once the battle had begun, Amme knew for a fact that neither side would give up until the other surrendered or was completely destroyed. Amme and Kevin had both fought together for a long enough period of time for Amme to know they were more likely to be the victors than the humans. And she also knew neither of them would leave any of the humans alive.

And so Amme fought, harder than she had in a long time. She wasn't worried about hurting Kevin; vampire skin was much harder than humans and was also self-healing. Perhaps an unfair advantage, but then, she wasn't complaining. It wasn't until she had beheaded her ninth kill when she was aware someone else she knew was in the battle.

"Amme Eledhwen, you hypocrite!"

Amme froze, and turned. First she saw one of the enemies sliding to the ground, blood pouring from his wound. Behind him, the Phantom stood, a wide grin on his face. "And you say I'm a murderer! What do you think you're doing then, girl?"

"This isn't murder!" Amme defended herself as she stabbed another man coming at her with an unloaded pistol. "They tried to kill me first!"

"True." He eyed her curiously as she ran threw an eleventh man.

Amme brushed her hair away from her face and glared at him. "What?"

"You know, you're quite lovely when you're killing people."

"That's disgusting."

He shrugged. A man armed with two daggers decided to come his way, so their conversation was put on hold while the Phantom dodged him.

"So," He said, once he returned, twirling the daggers around his hands and wrists. "You came to save me, did you?"

"Only because I felt guilty," Amme replied shortly.

"Ouch! That hurts." The Phantom threw a dagger at an oncoming man. "Why did Kevin come, then? He seems incapable of guilty feelings."

Kevin had just given into his thirst. The rest should be self-explanatory.

"Kevin came because he didn't want me going alone!" Amme snapped, blocking a sword before slicing open the man's belly.

"How nice. But I still want to talk to you about…" he paused as another man forced him and Amme to separate for a while.

"Talk about you coming back!" He finished when he found her again.

Amme snorted as she scampered around another man. "You picked an odd time to have this conversation!"

"Just give me an answer!"

Once again, their conversation was interrupted. This time, it looked like it would be for quite a while. Jonathan Drabek had gotten his control back.

"Amme Eledhwen!" He shrieked. "I will kill you! Even if it's the last thing I ever do!"

Only slightly back in control, though.

Erik did a quick head count. There were only seven more men on the other side left alive, not counting the fuming man with the mismatched eyes still hiding in the tree. Kevin was out of the battle, too busy with all the blood around him, his eyes glowing senselessly. That gave him, Erik, four and Amme four.

Amme just slit the throat of one of the men she was fighting. Okay, that made gave Erik four and Amme three.

As if there had been an unspoken command, the remaining men drew back and formed a loose circle, with Amme and Erik in the center. Erik took advantage of the pause to grab a sword from the ground. Amme lowered hers slightly, but only slightly.

"It might very well be the last thing you do," she said calmly, as if madmen talked about killing her everyday. "But then, you might die before I do." Her sword made small circles in the air as she spoke.

"I don't care what it takes," He breathed. "I will finish you!" And with that, he conjured up a ball of eerie yellow-green fire and threw it at Amme.

Erik's reaction was immediate. Not wanting to think of the woman he loved getting burnt to a crisp before his eyes, he held out his hands and forced his magic out into the air. A wide, black shield blossomed in front of the elf just in time. The fire hit it, and was instantly smothered as the black surrounded it on all sides.

Jonathan's eyes widened, and he turned slowly to face Erik. "That wasn't human magic," he muttered as he moved. "What are you?" He barked at the Phantom.

"Me."

"That's a pathetic answer," Amme whispered to him before raising her voice. "He's human all the way."

"No human has magic like that!" Jonathan screamed.

"Well, then he's a special human," She replied pleasantly. "But human through and through."

"That sounds like an insult, coming from you," Erik murmured to her. She grinned, but didn't respond.

Jonathan's eyes were bulging at that point. "I don't care! I'll kill you the same!"

"You were the one who wanted to know," Erik started to say, but more yellow-green fire appeared and launched itself at him.

This time, Erik shot some magic into his borrowed sword. Holding it like a baseball bat, he swung it, hitting the fire dead on. The fire changed directions, and headed back towards its creator, singeing Amme's hair slightly along the way. Jonathan screamed, but the fire consumed him before he could react anymore. He screamed again, but Erik had the strangest sense the fire wouldn't kill him; it would take much more than that.

And, indeed, the fire slowly was put out, and Jonathan stood there. His hair and eyebrows were both gone, but otherwise, he was completely unharmed. Pointing a shaking finger at Erik, he said, "Kill him."

All six of the men leapt on Erik at once. Amme managed to behead one before Jonathan started attacking her with magic again, forcing all her attention to him.

The Phantom retreated, holding the sword aloft in front of him. Forcing more magic into it at the same time as he swung it towards an oncoming man. The point barely grazed him, but enough magic got into him to make him explode. The remaining four men screamed as bits of blood and flesh got into their eyes, blinding them. Erik jumped forward and stabbed another, causing him to ignite from the inside out. The men, now down to three, drew back, but not quickly enough. Erik, who was starting to enjoy himself, set one more blast of magic at them, consuming all three at the same time. Whatever skill their master possessed to keep himself alive inside fire, those three certainly did not have. The black fire quickly destroyed each of them.

Erik wiped sweat from his forehead, and glanced around. Kevin was sitting by a pile of dead, drained bodies, looking rather confused. Erik bit back a desire to laugh, and turned to look at Amme.

She and Jonathan were both fighting their hardest, and she was most definitely losing. Excellent swordswoman she might have been, good sorceress she clearly was not. She was dodging spell after spell that Jonathan threw at her; the ground where they hit was black and burnt. Amme's weapons had been discarded and forgotten. Erik could see her feeble attempts to call up her own light blue magic, but her energy was rapidly waning.

Erik dropped his sword. Gathering all his energy and turning it into magic, he, once again, made his own fire and threw it with all his remaining strength at Jonathan. The last thing he was aware of was his magic fire hitting Jonathan square in the chest.

And then he collapsed and passed out on the ground, completely overspent.

-

Erik came to his senses after what seemed like a short time after his fainting. He knew he was awake, but he didn't open his eyes. He felt cold, but not uncomfortably so. The ground underneath him was hard, and in a few places, it dug into his skin. And then he was aware of a something cool and wet dripping onto his forehead. Frowning slightly, he opened his eyes.

The first thing that came to his attention was his mask, which was off. Before he could do any more than sit up and open his mouth, however, a pale, warm hand forced him back down. His eyes followed the hand to an arm, and then a shoulder. Finally, he realized Amme was sitting cross-legged next to him; a damp piece of cloth was in her other hand.

"You're heavy," She informed him, her chocolate eyes alive with laughter. "I needed Kevin to help me bring you here."

Erik's mouth opened even wider. Amme giggled.

"It wasn't that bad. Kevin only needed to help me because I was so tired."

"That's a relief," He said under his breath. She giggled again. "Where's Kevin now?"

She nodded towards a tree where a pale figure was lying underneath. "He's asleep."

"Ah." Erik sat back up. "So…what happened?"

"Well, I'm not sure. I was fighting…that man. You know, the one…"

"Jonathan," He interrupted. "His name was Jonathan Drabek."

"Really? Well, anyways, I was fighting him, and I was losing horribly. Then suddenly, he went…black. I mean, I couldn't see him anymore. It looked like black fire. And then he was gone." Amme shrugged. "And that's what happened."

"'And then he was gone?'" Erik repeated in disbelief. "Just like that?"

"Uh-huh."

Their eyes met for a while. Then Amme blushed, and quickly looked away. Erik fingered his sword, which he just realized was lying next to him.

"So," Amme started. "Are you, um, going to, well, stay? For Fate's funeral," she added hurriedly.

"Oh," dimly, he remembered the horse's body in the small clearing. "Of course. Of course I will."

"Thanks." Amme's smile was faint, and a few tears brimmed over and fell down her cheeks.

"Amme!" Erik reached out and gently wiped the tears away. "It'll be fine. Everything's going to be fine."

"I know," Amme sobbed softly. "It's just…Fate, Starlight, and I have been through a lot together. And it seems…just so wrong that one of us is gone! I knew she would die eventually, but still…I didn't think it would happen…so soon."

Erik listened to her in silence, stroking her hair comfortingly. When she finished, he said, "Can I…may I see her?"

Amme nodded. "She's over there."

The Phantom walked slowly over to the place where the black horse lay. He knelt down, thinking hard. He had already proven he could kill very well with magic. Could he heal? Could he bring things to live? Fate had been dead for about a day. Would that make any difference?

Gritting his teeth together, he came to one conclusion: he had to do something, if only to make Amme happy.

He placed one hand on the horse's forehead, and, once again, forced all his magic out, this time for a completely different purpose.

Amme sprung forward. "Don't! You'll kill yourself!" But it was too late: the magic was already gone.

Erik immediately felt this was a mistake. His head swam and his arms trembled. His breath came out in gasps, shallow and weak. But this time, he didn't collapse. He was strong enough to keep his eyes wide open and his brain working.

And strong enough to make Fate raise her head very slightly and open her eyes.

Amme sank down next to him, her hand raised out as if to pat the horse, as if to check if she was real. "Fate?"

Fate bobbed her head and whinnied.

"Fate!" Amme threw her arms around the horse, tears falling. "You're alive!"

Erik felt a moment of panic: his healing hadn't made Amme smile, she was crying some more. And then Amme let out a peal of laughter, and he relaxed again. Her laughing was soon joined by Fate's comforting neighs, and Starlight's happy meows. One of Kevin's eyes opened to see what the noise was, and, seeing Fate alive, both of them bugged out in shock.

And Erik watched it all, feeling rather sad. Amme was happy, that much was certain, but she didn't seem to need him anymore. And with that thought, he stood up and left.

-

When Erik returned to the sewers, he found, much to his irritation, that Laetitia had invited at least fifteen mer-people over, and at least six of them were already drunk. And Laetitia was one of them.

"Hey, bossman!" She hiccupped, waving her long tail. "How're things goin'?"

Erik leaned on his oar like a staff. "Perfectly. Why are all these people here?"

"We're partyin'!" Said a tiny, ancient mer-man.

"Really? And who said you could?"

The mer-people shared guilty looks with each other before glancing at Laetitia. Then they all looked away.

"I suspected as much," Erik muttered as Laetitia swayed happily. Then she passed out.

The Phantom tilted his head, staring at the unconscious siren. "That should be your cue to leave before I start to kill."

One by one, the mer-people left. Erik shook his head and climbed into the boat, sailing across the lake towards his "home."

Right while he was in the middle of writing his new opera, Erik had the sudden feeling someone else was down there. Frowning, he stood up and went to investigate.

Before he reached the dock on the other side of the lake, he saw a tall, dark figure standing there, leaning against the wall with their arms crossed. On closer examination, he saw it was Amme.

Erik's dark eyes widened as he took in her appearance. She looked fine, excellent, in fact, but he had never seen Amme wear pants except in her memories. They made her legs look even longer and thinner, which matched the rest of her body. The clothing itself was plain—black pants, white, short-sleeved short—but she still managed to look stunning. And happy. Erik could tell she was extremely happy. And that's what made him pause.

"You ran off," she said as a greeting. "Didn't give me a chance to thank you."

"You don't have to," he replied slowly.

"I think I do," she snorted. "For Fate, at least." She straightened up. "But I also want to ask you never to do that again."

"What?" He spluttered. "But-but I thought it made you happy!"

"Oh, yes, it did," she assured him. "I am absolutely thrilled that Fate's alive. But, it was also very dangerous. For you, I mean. You could have killed yourself. The dead are meant to stay dead, and I think it only worked because Fate had been dead for about a day. But don't do it again."

"Am I to understand," the Phantom said carefully. "That you don't want me to bring people back to life, because you're afraid I'll be killed?"

Amme pursed her lips. "Yes, that's sounds about right."

Erik felt himself become happier than he had in a long, long time. Amme saw this, and quickly popped his bubble.

"Because the person you'd be trying to bring back would still be dead. And I hate unnecessary deaths, as you very well know."

"Are you still angry about that?" Erik snapped, miffed she had dashed his hopes so fast.

"Uh-huh,"

"And is there anything I can do so you won't be?"

"Maybe," she allowed. "If you promise never, ever to do something like it again."

"Fine!" He said immediately, and rather harshly. "I promise never, ever to do something like it again. Satisfied?"

"Hmm…" Amme thought a moment, a smile dancing on her lips. "I suppose, if that's the best I can hope for…"

"It is!"

"Well then," she nodded her head in assent. "And, by the way, you forgot this." And she held out his mask.

Erik took it and put it on. "Thank you."

"You're welcome." And then her expression changed. "Just out of curiosity, where is Laetitia?"

"Where…who…what?"

"Laetitia." It looked like Amme was secretly laughing at him. "You know, the mermaid who lives here. I was calling for about…maybe ten minutes, but no one came. I thought she always was here."

Erik inclined his head toward the mermaid, who was laying barely visible by the wall on the far side. "She's out drunk."

Amme's mouth made a tiny "o." "I thought I smelled something like alcohol."

"Yep. Shall we go?"

But the elf wasn't finished yet. "I'll have you know, I've discovered quite a similarity in the men I chose."

"Oh?"

"Yes. No one liked Erland: Emily, Papa, Kevin, Virginia Táralóm. You remember her, don't you? Anyways, no one liked him except me. And with good reason, too. And then with Michel, well, you saw what he was like. And then there's Josh. Well, he's sort of an idiot: I'm not really surprised he's still single. And I've heard more insults than compliments with you. Are you seeing the similarity, too?"

"That's insulting," the Phantom informed her. "Let's go."

"But, I need to get Fate. And Starlight."

"I'll get them later. Let's go!"

Amme sighed, and allowed herself to be bullied into the boat.

-

Kevin would like me to say that you are allowed to call him "Keving" as long as you don't call him "Kev." He would tell you this himself, but is currently being hung by a rope from my bedroom ceiling for calling someone who shall remain nameless "Pha-Pha." I shall not elaborate.

Anyways, I have an estimated ten more chapters in the story, and they will focus more on Amme and the Phantom's relationship, and them getting together or not getting together, depending on how I feel. Ha ha ha, the power is mine!

I'd say more, but right now I'm being hung by a rope from my bedroom ceiling.