97: Opera Ghost Real

Saint George's mistake was a natural one to make. "With Carmilla dead, we don't have to worry about that Assassin that had been picking off the weaker Parisian servants" - I'm sure he assumed something like that, when he chose to stay and finish our conversation rather than immediately run after Elizabeth.

And I had let the assumption lie there, because it slipped my mind. The second berserk Assassin that Edmond Dantes had spoken of last loop - I completely forgot about him. And now Elizabeth is likely to die from a combination of my cruel words and forgetfulness. If George reaches her in time, he'll save her, but- he doesn't know where to look, and he didn't make it in time to save Kiyohime, Corday, or Robespierre.

"I don't even know who the second Berserk Assassin is-" Or do I?

Beneath Paris, two loops ago, someone was called in by [Chu Shi Biao] to kill Prelati. Who was that? Was it the second Berserk Assassin?

I was barely conscious when it happened, could barely think through the haze of pain. The one who saved me back then was… that man in the white mask, right? Or was it someone after that, and the masked man was an illusion? I'm not sure. But… I think I remember his words. What he called himself.

Does it matter? If he's dragged Elizabeth down into those tunnels, will I even be able to find her? I close my eyes, inhaling sharply, as a sinking feeling starts to build in my chest-

-There!

I can sense her. Cor Leonis finds the star of Elizabeth Bathory, moving slowly, in a daze, some ten meters below the surface of the ground - and going deeper and deeper.

"...Even after I said those things, you still consider me an ally, huh?" I mumble.

One more time, the image of a blonde girl flashes in my mind. "We can eat our own memories, so could you forgive us then, Onii-san?"

They're the same. Elizabeth's abandonment of her future, Louis's offer to abandon her past - it's the same principle. But-

"So what!" I finally shout as I race towards the door, taking the stairs two at a time. So what if it's inconsistent! So what if I'm a hypocrite! I race out the door. "This is this, and that is that! Amadeus!"

"Oh?" The composer asks, materializing next to me, jogging to keep pace. "You knew I was listening in?"

"You're an ordinary voyeur who plays music," I say, grinning a bit. "Anyway, the enemy is a self-proclaimed angel of music! Any friend of yours?"

"...The Phantom of the Opera, probably," Mozart says. "He matches the profile, for sure. He's just the type to lead away troubled songstresses to who knows where."

"Alright. Send a familiar to tell the others. If I need to, I'll use a command spell to call in Mash or Gareth, but-!" I start.

"No point in wasting resources, I understand." He nods, and an ethereal being that looks like an angel materializes, flying back towards the City Hall.

A sharp turn - there! The same shrouded stairway I exited two loops ago. [Emergency Reinforcement] protects my legs as I clear it in a single leap - and then I realize the problem.

"It's a damn labyrinth-!" Already I can see a side passage, and further down another, and another-!

"I can hear him." Amadeus says, raising a hand next to his head. "He's still singing - follow me, and keep your hand at the level of your eyes. The Phantom was a strangler in Leroux's novel; he'll have more trouble tightening his noose if your hand is in the way."

Swallowing, I do as he says.

The tunnels wind deeper and deeper, until finally Mozart pauses at the edge of what looks to be an underground aqueduct.

"-Did you feel that?" He asks.

"A bounded field, right?" I reply.

"Territory Creation… he probably doesn't even have that skill in any other location than this," The composer mutters. "Of course he'd find his way to the same lair he used in life!"

"So?" I ask. "Do we try to swim it? I can sense Elizabeth on the other side."

"-Absolutely not. His territory creation may not be a high rank, but if guys as weak as us enter one of his 'canonical' traps, we'll die for sure," Mozart says - and then, taking a seat, he materializes a piano in front of him. "No, the only safe way to approach is to have him bring us in himself."

And then, he begins to play a strange, dark tune.

A splash in the distance - and then, slowly, a boat emerges - a gondola, pushed along by a long pole clutched in the red-clawed hands of the Phantom of the Opera.

"Ah, that music!" The man calls out in ecstasy. "That song - my strange visitor, what is this song you have brought me-?"

"Follow my lead, Subaru," Mozart mutters, and then he calls out directly. "Do you not recognize it, oh Angel of Music?"

"Ah, could it be - but that is impossible!?" The Phantom says. "Strange visitor, I know it - but 'Don Juan Triumphant' does not exist! Who are you, to play my composition without flaw, when I have never once written it?"

"Mozart," He replies, a wide smirk on his face. "My name is Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart."

Berserk Assassin inhales sharply, and I see a single tear roll down his cheek. "Finally."

He throws his arms out wide, his cape fluttering behind him. "Finally! At last, a worthy one arrives - oh, Christine, my Christine, one worthy of our kingdom of music - I must show you, Christine! Come aboard, oh good composer - your Master as well, I shall show you the place where all beauty dwells!"

"Naturally," Mozart replies, and I give a shaky nod - and then climbing aboard his boat, we wait as he poles us across the aqueduct. From there, we follow him, through a snaking passage, through a bedroom, a secret passage behind a bookcase - and as we reach what looks like a cistern, the scent of iron assaults my nose.

"Now, my guests, behold!" The Phantom says, gesturing to the room. "Behold my work - oh, Christine, do you see? Christine, my Christine!"

Lit by purple candlelight, a vast pipe organ rests in the center of the room - but as I look at it, my eyes trace out certain lines, certain shapes. The oddly grained red 'wood'. A narrowing of a pipe there, a widening there. A strange redness to all of it. And resting above the center a cluster of rounded shapes, with indentations that imply- no, not imply. Those shapes above the keys, still wet and red in places, can only be human skulls. Those pipes must be bone. The strangely grained 'wood' must be flesh and sinew.

My stomach rolls.

How many people has he stolen away to create this? How many human lives went into the crafting of this macabre imitation of a musical instrument?

Elizabeth. Where is she, she can't be, there's no way I could still be detecting her if she was-!

-There. Standing in the shadows, at the edge of the room, a cloudy look in her eyes.

As I breathe my small sigh of relief and try to control my churning stomach, Berserk Assassin simply stares at us expectantly, until finally-

"You have terrible taste." Amadeus says simply, and hatred fills the Phantom's face.

In a flash, he's across the room, standing in front of the organ. "Then I will show you - my music, my love, ah, Christine! Perish, oh fools who could not see beauty!" He thrusts one hand towards Elizabeth, and-!

"I don't… think I want to kill Fishie." Elizabeth mumbles, totally ignoring his order.

"Oh Christine, forget thoughts. You have fallen under my spell - erase everything else but music! Music!"

A dumb smile appears on Elizabeth's face, and Amadeus brandishes his baton with a grimace as I prepare a command spell- "Okaaay! "

No sonic wave explodes from her mouth. Just a pleasant sound of singing.

"...Huh?" I mutter.

"Sing, Christine! Sing, my angel!" The Phantom cries as he brings his hands down on the bone keys and dark tones in human voices begin to escape the pipes.

"Laaaaaaa! " Elizabeth resonates perfectly with it - no seriously, what the hell is this!?

"I see," Amadeus nods in total understanding - hey, are you gonna share? "The destructive power of Elizabeth's song comes from her dragon's breath - it only activates when she is embodying the selfish nature of a dragon! In other words, if she sings for the sake of another, Elizabeth Bathory's song is just the amateur efforts of a teenage girl! Not good by any means, but certainly not destructive - which means that the real danger must be that organ!"

"Hey, I thought her singing was pretty good," I say.

"You aren't a genius composer," He counters.

"Sing, my angel! [Christine-!" Phantom cries and a horrid pulse begins to fill everything-

"-Now." Mozart flicks his baton, and orchestral music joins the tune, the feeling of imminent doom dissipating for a moment. "Alright, I've found it! When his sound reaches a certain resonance with Elizabeth, we'll be reduced to a paste! However, with my own sound waves I can hold that resonance off - now's your chance! Go tell Elizabeth some nice-sounding lie that will get her back on our side!"

"That sounds like a lot of nonsense, and you really could have said that better, but okay!" I shout back - and then I rush towards where Elizabeth is standing.

"Oh! It's Fishie! Are you here to apologize, now that you see how good at singing I am? " She sings - hey, aren't you a little too aware, Elizabeth? Are you really even being mind controlled?

But, even if she isn't mind controlled - "Yeah. Sorry, Elizabeth. I said some really cruel things - the truth is-"

"Okay! I forgive you! " She sings.

"I'm glad - um, could you stop harmonizing with him now?"

"I can't! Because I'm supposed to sing! " She replies

"Sing, for me! [Christine-!" The Phantom commands, Mozart's music once more cutting off his attack.

Okay, lying it is! "The truth is, I was always your fan, I was just being tsundere!" I shout.

"Wow, really? Then I'll do my best to sing for you, Fishie! " Elizabeth sings, still in harmony with the organ.

Seriously, how is his charm this strong? She's dragonkin, her magic resistance should-!

Except, right now, her Draconic nature is in remission.

That's the key, then. I just need to draw out her dragonkin traits, and she should shake the charm off. But that's easier said than done - in the middle of his territory, Phantom's right to command the hearts of aspiring divas is supreme. I need something at least on that level to counter it.

Luckily, that exists. That's a power I can use. The right of the [Dragon Witch], Jeanne d'Arc, to draw out the power of and command dragons-

"[Solar Flare]." Black fire scalds my tongue.

-if I wear her [Name], that right is mine as well.

"E-eh!?" The cloudiness disappears from Elizabeth's eyes. "Fishie? What's going on? Why do you suddenly seem so much cooler?"

"Never mind that! Elizabeth - blast that creepy mask guy right away!" I shout, pointing at Phantom.

"Okay! Since you're my fan, I'll sing my greatest number one hit!" Oh no, she remembered me say that!? "[Báthory Erzsébet]! LaAaAaAaA!"

The final look on the Phantom of the Opera's face before he's torn to pieces by a catastrophic sonic wave is one of abject horror.

Compendium Update: Solar Flare

Part of Subaru's Authority of Gluttony. Despite sharing a name with an attack from a Shonen Manga, it doesn't have much in common. After devouring someone's grudge, Subaru may wear their [Name] for a brief period of time. This makes people remember his name as the one he is wearing, but that is not its primary use. Instead, [Solar Flare]'s true value is in Subaru's ability to use the 'authority' of the one whose name he is wearing - note that the term is lower case, we do not here refer to Witch Cult [Authorities]. Instead, what Subaru usurps is that name's 'right to command'. For example, at this point in the story he may use Jeanne Alter's ability to command dragons, or Ahab's ability to command the invisible sailors on his ship.

In keeping with the idea of a 'flare', this ability only persists for a minute or two.

A/N:

Chapter title is a Tsuchinoko joke.

Some super nerds may say "Phantom's attack is magical, not musical, how is Mozart just stopping it with music?"

To them I say "He needs certain resonance to make the magic attack! Also, it's Phantom, who cares!?"