Music of the Night: The Phantom of the Opera Returns (Guile & Melody)

[Saiyan Princess]

Meanwhile, the theater actors and actresses were celebrating yet another success. Edward smiled to himself as he took a sip of wine. "She'll come begging for her spot back and will have to marry me to get it back." He smirked as he said this. With her parents in bed, Catherine couldn't quite sleep. She was officially a daddy's little girl at this point and, though it was only across town, her second home seemed light years away. "Papa, if you can hear me, I cannot sleep wondering if you've been imprisoned. Give me proof that you are safe, Father."

 

[Guile]

The Phantom tossed around, restless throughout the night, when suddenly he heard the soft voice of his daughter. He smiled and reached out to her through his thoughts - thankful for that connection that he seemed to share with her and Christine. I am safe, Catherine, at home waiting to see you again. Sleep well, my child. I love you.

 

[Saiyan Princess]

"I will see you in my dreams, Papa." She also had a hard time sleeping. "First thing tomorrow. I love you more." This was the first time that he admitted to loving her. It brought tears to her eyes. "Stay out of sight until we come back." Christine walked by with a glass of water in hand. "Catherine, leave him be. It is late." She blushed in embarrassment and immediately covered herself back up. "Goodnight, Mother!" Christine smiled. "Good night, my love."

 

[Guile]

The Phantom smiled at her words, but simply muttered a quiet I will, darling before finding that he could sleep now, a little more at ease. He drifted off into a beautiful dream that started with Catherine and drifted off into Christine, and then the both of them: there in his arms, never leaving, never wishing to leave. Of course, the dream coursed off into a nightmare. He dreamt of Edward hurting Catherine - forcing her to marry him and taking her away as she begged for her father to save her. As he was about to follow, he saw Christine with Raoul. They were kissing and each of them had their wedding rings back on their fingers. He found himself torn between saving Catherine or staying to turn Christine back to him. When the Phantom woke the next morning he was very disgruntled as he dressed himself in clean clothing for the day.

 

[Saiyan Princess]

His family woke as well. Catherine immediately went to clean her mouth out from the night previous to this, still tasting the foul lips of Edward Tremaine. "Ugh...never again will I be able to look that foul evil little git in the eyes." Raoul had walked by and heard this as he was bringing in firewood. "Do not think ill of him, my child. He is simply lost in his own world." She spit again. "I know, Raoul." She still shuddered.

 

[Guile]

The Phantom, remembering the events of last night, decided to think of what he would write to Edward's father. He sat down with a troubled sigh, hoping that this would work without him having to make too much of a fuss, and wrote this letter to him:


Sir,


It has come to my attention that Catherine De Chagney has been dismissed. I am very displeased, and quite appalled, by this news. I cannot see why this is so: she is a talented singer and actress - an asset in every way to the Opera House. I'm asking you to set aside your pride and accept her back at once. She has done no wrong and quite frankly, it's quite ridiculous of you to dismiss her all on the account that I had a little talk with your son about his crude behavior towards her. I ask - not threaten - you to reconsider.


Yours truly,


~ O.G.





When the letter was written the Phantom took it up and placed it on the owner's desk before slipping out and sneaking away once again.

 

[Saiyan Princess]

When the morning's chores were finished, Catherine left with her parents to also have a word with the owner. The fourteen year old was quite nervous about pleading with such a man for a part in the theatre. "Mother, Father, why must we return. I don't want to be around that selfish, rude, evil little prat any longer." Raoul, appalled by his stepdaughter's language, tapped her harshly on the cheek, only to startle, not harm. "Beware of your mouth, child." He warned. Catherine looked to Christine, but received no help, as her mother allowed Raoul to discipline the child. "Yes, Father. I am sorry." She whispered.

 

[Guile]

The Phantom watched the family enter the House and smiled. He watched Raoul discipline his daughter for the harsh words she had said about Edward and he felt himself starting to burn up inside once again. Calm yourself, he reasoned, he did no harm to her. Ignoring that, for the most part, he slipped in behind Christine, not making himself known to the other two, to have a word with her before she talked to the manager. He simply walked along silently behind her and whispered in her ear, "I've written a note and placed it on his desk. I kept it civilized." He promised with a smirk before disappearing out of sight before any of them could see him. They had to talk to the owner alone, he knew, but he wished he could have gone with them. It made him feel like a coward - always staying hidden from people.

 

[Saiyan Princess]

Christine kept walking on with her family, allowing Catherine to hide her face in Christine's dress. She didn't want her face to be seen in front of the manager. Catherine would have much more preferred to hide anywhere but with Christine's skirt over her eyes, but the Phantom was not there to hide her from this torture. "Please, be silent and allow your father and I to speak." Christine cooed in her ear. The door opened and the trio glimpsed Monsiuer Tremaine stuffing a note into the fire place. "I already paid you, wretched Ghost! Leave me be! I owe that br-..." he spotted the De Chagney family. "Welcome, Monsiuer and Madam De Chagney." He smiled and shook Raoul's hand, kissed Christine's and nodded at the hidden one.

 

[Guile]

The Phantom listened from the other side of the closed door. He smirked at the ignorance of the owner, a part of him wishing to go back to his old ways and threaten him with his life. But, underneath his rage, the Phantom knew he had changed - he did not wish to kill ever again. However, the voice of that fool of a man inside was making him wish he weren't trying to be so good.

 

[Saiyan Princess]

Tremaine lowered himself back into his seat. "To what do I owe the pleasure?" He asked innocently, though he already knew the answer and wasn't about to give into anyone, especially not a little girl that couldn't stand up for herself. "Good gentleman, I beg you to give my daughter her spot in the theater. She loves your building like a second home." Raoul spoke up. Catherine let out a small whine. She could feel her birth father so close and yet so far. "She assaulted my son." Tremaine mumbled. Catherine reached for her dagger.

 

[Guile]

The Phantom was burning up on the other side of the door. He was so close to busting in and grabbing Tremaine by the throat. Assaulted your son?! Your son assaulted my daughter, you ass! How dare he say such a thing! The thoughts were burning so loudly inside his head, he wasn't so sure that he hadn't said them aloud. Either way, he was sure that he had unintentionally allowed both Catherine and Christine to hear them - they were exploding that forcefully in his mind.

 

[Saiyan Princess]

Christine stared at the door in horror and instinctively covered Catherine's ears, forgetting that it was of no use. "Sir, we take full responsibility for Catherine and ask that you give her another chance." Christine tried to recover herself. "I will...think about this and will give you my answer within the hour. In the mean time, Christine Daae, I have received many letters asking for a performance from yourself." Christine smiled pleasantly. "I will not sing without my daughter on stage with me." The old man rubbed his brow. "A duet? That could be a nice change. To hear you sing once more would be heavenly. I understand your....instructor...wishes to hear you again." Daae already knew that. "Yes, sir. But, I won't do this without Cathy."

 

[Guile]

The Phantom silenced his harsh thoughts as he heard the change of atmosphere in the room: things seemed to be picking up. He listened intently. Good, Christine! Excellent! You are a genius! He thought excitedly, a smile spreading across his face at the mention of a duet between Catherine and Christine. This is a sure way to get her back in! We can't loose! He thought, rubbing his hands together silently, pleased at the outcome of this meeting after all.

 

[Saiyan Princess]

"Fine! Fine, but get her out of my office at once!" He stood up angrily. Raoul stood in front of the women, protecting them. "You will not harm my wife and child." Tremaine sat back down and waved his hand at them. Catherine rushed out the door and right into the Phantom, not knowing who it was. "Pardon me, Monsiuer." She recognized his body after about twenty seconds. "Do you ever stop meeting me like this?" She avoided his face, hearing Raoul and Christine inside. Raoul spun his wife happily. "We did it!"

 

[Guile]

The Phantom had barely noticed Catherine had run into him, for he was listening jealously in on Raoul and Christine's celebration. A pain stabbed at his heart and he wished it had been him in there to protect them - he wished it had been he that had gotten Catherine her spot back. He looked down at his daughter with a smile on his face, though. "Nope." He whispered happily. "Unfortunately, I've been destined to sneak around my whole life in the shadows." He added with a grumble, but pushed the feeling aside. He placed his arms around her in a hug. "Congratulations, Catherine. I'm glad you're back in." He whispered with a smile.

 

[Saiyan Princess]

"Why don't you fight for us, Papa? Why let Raoul stay? You have much more in common with us than he." She was upset that she had to hide her relationship with her father. "Why not kill for your family?" She didn't know why she asked this, or maybe she did. She knew of Joseph Bouquet's death long ago, and the attack on Raoul as well. "Father, you must fight for us!" She begged. "I wanna go with you, but I can't if Raoul has Mommy in his grasp!" She kept herself from crying. Why do I want him to go back to his old ways?

 

[Guile]

"Catherine!" The Phantom was appalled by her words, but he was not yelling at her. "Darling, why would you say such a thing? I...I couldn't bare to take Raoul, or anyone else's, life. Not again..." He thought about how devastated Christine would be. "I want your mother, you, and I to be a family more than anything else in the world - I love you two more than life itself. I would die for you both! But, I can't kill Raoul. If I took away your mother's right to choose who she wants to be with...she would...despise me." He paused, thinking back on when he had done exactly that before. "I can't do something like that again." He whispered, though inside he did want to fight for them.

 

[Saiyan Princess]

"I-I just...." tears stung at her face. "I just want to b-be a fam-family..." she backed away from the Opera Ghost. Why had she said this? She knew he was not the same man that he once was. "You were so famous back then, Papa. I was always fascinated with your story, told b-by my fel-fellow actors." She had upset him. It was awful what she said, but the truth was that he wasn't happy and he never would be without taking things back into his own hands. She felt his dagger at her hip and prayed that he didn't notice.

 

[Guile]

The Phantom immediately embraced his child, stroking her hair softly. "Hush, child. I am not upset. I understand..." He hadn't taken notice to his dagger on her hip at all, he was too lost in the fact that his child was crying. It was amazing, what the tears of a child could do, to the heart of a father. In that moment he would have done anything to make her happy - to cease the tears that stained her pretty, innocent face. "I want us to be a family too. I will do what I can to make that happen. I promise, darling."

 

[Saiyan Princess]

Moments later, Christine had come out, her ring was still off and she kept her distance from her husband. Raoul could not take all the stresses of having a family anymore. He loved Christine, but she didn't share his feelings any more. She had a daughter with one man and was also expecting another. "Raoul, I do hope we can be friendly still." She hugged the Vicomte. "Yes, my dearest Christine." He left at such a fast speed that he almost tripped and fell. Catherine, confused, let go of the Phantom.

 

[Guile]

The Phantom looked up at them, also confused. He watched as the vicomte went off and Christine stayed behind. He turned to her, not quite understanding the exchange that had just happened. I must have missed something drastic... He believed. "Christine?" He looked at her questioningly, but a part of him let his hopes rise. Was she finally starting to get over Raoul? He couldn't very well tell, and he was unaware that Christine was expecting another child - he hadn't caught on to her subtle hints.

 

[Saiyan Princess]

"He's leaving. He has business to attend to overseas." She lied to the father of her child. "We decided that it would be best to search elsewhere for other people. He is going to Russia." There were tears in her eyes as her knight in shining armor had just left her there. "And, I can't put him through anymore torture of me expecting another child that isn't his." She smiled through her tear stained face. "I don't want him to hurt, so he's leaving."

 

[Guile]

The Phantom had gone over to her and placed his arms around her as she spoke to comfort her. He placed his chin on the top of her head and breathed in the scent of her hair. All was peaceful, yet bittersweet, until she said 'expecting another child.' At this, the Phantom pulled back, keeping his hands on her shoulders, to look in her eyes. His eyes showed that he thought he must have heard wrong - certainly she hadn't said those words. He had just misheard, hadn't he? "What did you say, Christine?" He asked softly, feeling that he knew very well what she had said, but part of him not believing it.

 

[Saiyan Princess]

"My love, I am with child at the moment." She smiled back at him. "You seem upset at this wonderful news." She blushed now. "This is what you want, correct?" She asked softly as she reached for his face again, feeling the edge of his mask. "You told me that you loved me, and with this child, we can be complete!" She kissed him and removed his mask.