A/N: This daily update thing will end with winter break this coming Monday; I need you to know this. This chapter does have a song, and I hope at least one of you had seen Moulin Rouge, because it will be easier for you if you have. If not, well I'm pretty sure I've insulted your intelligence by spelling it out for you, so you guys will be just fine. Our disclaimer is read today by a new, human Thing named Symmetry. I was so interested by the name of one of my reviewers; symmetry888, that I just had to ask them if I could use it. They said yes, thank goodness, and so Symmetry will be reading the disclaimer;

Symmetry: The Incredible Nameless Wonder doesn't have the legal rights to the Phantom of the Opera; those legitimate documents lie with Andrew Lloyd Webber, and try as I might, I have not been able to procure the real thing or a bootleg just yet.

Me: Thank you! And a very special thanks to Nakia-Park23 for my 60th review! To the rest of you readers; please enjoy, and please review!

Chapter Sixteen: Of Songs and Dreams

"Do you sing?" Erik asked me when I sat down and I shook my head. I never really could sing, my voice was way too deep for almost all songs. Erik wouldn't like it, he trained soprano's, not female tenors.

"No, no I can't sing at all." I replied quickly and he cocked an eyebrow.

"I believe that everyone can sing if they are born with the music in them." He coaxed but I didn't give in, he wouldn't win me over so easily.

"Consider me lacking it greatly then." This completely true statement earned a soft, quick laugh from Erik, who was sitting opposite from me, but still he persisted.

"I shall sing for you, if you sing for me." He attempted to strike a bargain and while it was very, very tempting, I shuddered at the thought of me singing in front of someone I didn't want to drop dead. But still, I longed to hear Erik's legendary voice, the stuff of angels it was called. If I had to go through with a bit of bitter embarrassment to get to hear it, well then, so be it.

"There is one song I know." I said quietly and he seemed quite interested suddenly.

"Pray, do tell." He said and I suppressed a blush of embarrassment at the horror that was about to go down.

"It's called El Tango De Roxanne." I said in a shaky voice and he Erik appeared to be very, very curious.

"What is it about?" I shrugged, playing with a torn piece of fabric from my pants.

"It's about a man who falls in love" I paused as Erik almost smiled, but of course I had to kill it, "with a prostitute." Erik's face morphed into that of disgust quickly.

"Repulsive." He hissed. "But, if that is the song you wish." I nodded and cleared my throat, straightening my back. I started off low as my voice hits all the deep notes, never going too high.

"Roxanne,

You don't have to put on that red light,

Walk the streets for money,

You don't care if it's wrong or if it is right."

I grimaced as my voice filled the room and I didn't dare look at Erik, the humiliation is too much to bear, but I continued, after all, he asked for this, I wanted nothing to do with it.

"Roxanne,

You don't have to wear that dress tonight,

Roxanne,

You don't have to sell your body to the night."

I didn't dare go any higher for the next verse in case my voice cracked from my nerves, but I work up the courage to go a note higher for the upcoming verse.

"His eyes upon your face,

His hand upon your hand,

His lips caress your skin,

It's more than I can stand."

I shied away from the higher notes and replaced them with deeper ones as I was suddenly aware of just how much I sounded like a man with sore throat attempting to sing and failing on many, many levels.

"Roxanne,

Why does my heart cry?

Roxanne,

Feelings I can't fight.

Roxanne,

Feelings I can't fight,

You're free to leave me,

But just don't deceive me

And please,

Believe me when I say,

I love you."

I finished on a shaky note as I didn't want to bother with the Spanish lyrics that I didn't know. I wouldn't dare raise my eyes to look up at Erik, I kept them firmly focused on my lap as Erik clears his throat, trying to get my attention but I ignore him.

"Where did you hear this song?" He asked and I smile in a weird sort of way.

"Smart man, avoiding stating your opinion on my voice. In answer to your question, I heard that particular song from an old play called Moulin Rouge a long, long time ago." I replied in a dull voice. I was lying, Moulin Rouge was a movie made a few years ago in my real time.

"I have never heard of such a performance, where did you see it?" I was suddenly aware of how I'd pretended for the longest time that I had amnesia, and Erik seemed to be noticing that I was lying.

"I-I can't remember." I told him, rushing the words. He seemed to notice how uncomfortable he was making me and did nothing to cease the action.

"Ah yes, you have… amnesia. Is there nothing you can remember?" He asked. My mind froze for a minute as I tried to stutter out a reply.

"N-no, just my name, where I came from and the odd little things that pop up out of nowhere." I told him and he backed off from the uncomfortable subject, probably as a thank you for not pushing him to take of his mask.

The silence reigned supreme for the next little while, and it was my turn to change the subject. "I always thought the song was similar to your life." I said casually and Erik seemed offended.

"I would not fall in love with a lady of the night." He spat out and I shrugged.

"No, I didn't mean that, I just meant the meaning of it. The man, who loved her, killed her because he can't trust her, she is a prostitute after all, and because he can't trust her, there is no love. Jealousy will drive you mad." I whispered the last bit and Erik said nothing, so I continued. "You can't trust Christine, not any more anyway, and because there is no trust, there is no love in your relationship any more. Perhaps you don't love her at all." I couldn't bring myself to stop talking and I regretted it as soon as I said it.

"Get out." Erik said after an awkward pause. I didn't want to, Hell, I was actually enjoying our time together, but Erik seemed angry beyond all reason with what I had to say. He clenched his hands into fists and closed his eyes, rage bubbling up beneath the surface of his skin I did as he said, standing and getting out of the room as fast as possible. I closed the door behind me and leaned against it, my breathing heavy.

"Nice dob, smart one." The voice of Shock rang through the lair as she took a seat on the bench in front of Erik's organ.

"Oh shut up!" I snapped, making her pout a little bit.

"It's not my fault; you are the one who never did learn how to control her big mouth!" Shock argued and I rolled my eyes, flouncing off to the red chair and taking a seat.

"That is what he needs to hear, he doesn't love Christine, and he actually can't until he trusts her!" I exclaimed, trying to stay quiet so that Erik didn't overhear at least my part of the conversation.

"I know, but there's nothing you can do about it." Shock told me and granted; she did have a point.

"Maybe there is. If I went and maybe talked with Christine then I could change her mind and she could look at Erik again." Back then, it seemed like a great idea, and I probably would've done it too, if Shock had not stopped me.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa! Annie, listen to yourself, if you leave, Erik won't forgive you again." She said and again she had a perfectly valid point, I really hated when that happened.

"Fine, I won't go, but I doubt that he'll forgive me anyway." I said, getting a little moody. Shock stood up and floated over to me, her black heels hovering just a few inches above the ground. I slumped back into the old, faded chair and sighed as she knelt down beside me and brushed a few stray locks of blond hair out of my eyes. She gave me a warm smile and a kiss on the forehead before rising once more and heading towards the lake.

"He just needs to think, Annie. Get some sleep, okay?" I nodded and she disappeared below the water's surface, leaving me to close my eyes and dream.

I was in a circular room. The floor was tiled with chipped black and white pieces of square slate and the walls were a dark purple fading in black as well, with a large, obsidian chandelier burning white flame hanging from the ceiling that was tiled as the floor was. I was sitting on a dark, dark red sofa that looked to be antique, and in front of me was a crystal table with a vase filled with dead roses.

I peered around, growing accustomed to the half-light that the chandelier gave off when I saw a medium-sized form cloaked in darkness in the corner. I put a hand over my mouth to keep from screaming as the figure glided across the floor.

My fear faded away to a dull discomfort as more and more of the mysterious person was able to be seen. She was beautiful, there was no doubt about that, but something wasn't right about her. It took me a few seconds to see it, but I eventually noticed that the left side of her body was entirely cased in metal.

It wrapped around her left arm, the left side of her face and the left side of her torso, spilling out at her left hip to form the metal half of a skirt. Her hair was one metal entity, with no individual threads that made curls that hung to her lower back, and her left eye, in stark contrast to her right eye, was a deep, bloody red.

The right eye was a crystal-clear, forest green, and the skin that wasn't covered by metal was flawless and creamy-pale in tone. Her upper-half was covered by a blue dress that matched her left side, but it was made of fabric instead of metal that also spilled out at her hips to form a ball-gown-like skirt. The left side of her scalp had real hair that was a dark burgundy in colour, with soft curls looping around each other and falling in such a way that the division between hair and metal was seamless.

She smiled at me, the right side of her mouth that didn't have any makeup turning up into a warm grin while the left side of her face remained stony and fixed. I tried to smile back, but found that I couldn't; making the strange girl that looked to be around seventeen laugh.

"W-who are you?" I asked and she smiled brighter.

"I'm Symmetry, Persis." She said in a voice that was wheezy and felt unused, like reeds blowing in the wind and the sound of it sent shivers down my spine.

"And where am I?" I realized how distant my voice was, like I was shouting down a long, long hallway.

"We are in the waiting room." She told me calmly, her bare feet hovering around six and a half inches from the black and white tiled ground.

"What is the waiting room?" I asked and she shook her head, inter-locking her flesh fingers with her metal ones behind her back.

"I can't tell you, you'll get scared." She whispered and it was my turn to shake my head.

"No I won't, I promise." I whispered back, scooting closer towards her. Symmetry back up a few paces and shook her head again.

"It's not a happy story." She pleaded, which didn't throw me, it only fuelled the flames of my burning curiosity.

"Please, tell me anyway." I asked as politely as I could, my patience wearing thin. The cyborg-teenager sighed and her shoulders slumped as she sucked in a sharp breath before beginning.

"The waiting room is a place in your mind, dear Persis, it is where Things that appear human wait before being called in to surrender their will to Sycamore and become rats, become part of her army." She said, making me feel very confused. I hoped it didn't show as I tried to work the new information that was given to me out.

"So Things start out as humans?" I asked in a freaked out voice and Symmetry nodded.

"Yes. Usually it's quite crowded in here, but I can't say I'm complaining, most of the other Things fight." She said in a dismal voice and my curiosity was again peaked.

"Fight, why?" I asked and she nodded.

"They don't want to be a rat. Lately, the numbers have been growing. There is talk of Sycamore building an army." Symmetry said. This new bit of info was especially difficult to deal with.

"Does this have anything to do with her plan?" I asked and Symmetry's eyes widened.

"H-how did you…? No, I can't say, I've said too much." Her tone was desperate and grew even hoarser as she suddenly stiffened.

"Symmetry, what's wrong?" I asked, but she didn't reply. She turned and began to float towards the door on the far wall, her body looking like she wanted to fight it.

"Go." Was the last thing she said before the door opened and she entered. I couldn't she what was beyond it, because it was way too dark, but in a strange way, I didn't want to.

I decided to make myself scarce, and so I reached my right arm over to my left and gave myself a sharp pinch. I felt myself leave the red sofa I was on and all too soon, I was falling.

I woke up with a start and clutched at my chest, trying to slow my heart beat as I registered what was going on around me. I was back in the lair, safe and sound. Even though I was back in the 'real world', I knew that my dream wasn't fake, Sycamore was up to something, and she was building an army of rats.

Well, if she did decide to use her plan, I didn't worry too much. If and when she put it in to action, Goblin, Sixty, Shock, Jinx, Scissors and I would be there, and we would be ready