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

[Saiyan Princess]

Christine immediately buried herself into him and didn't emerge. "It's like talking to a brick wall." She argued. "I see no talent in the girl and it would be a waste of time and money to have her learn under a reputable tutor." He sneered. "Tell me, you have Christine. Why do you beg for Catherine? She is nothing to you." Catherine felt her anger surge, but calmed when Lilly squeaked in terror.

 

[Guile]

Erik allowed Christine to hold tightly to him, his eyes locked on Tremaine in a defiant glare. "Reputable?" Erik scoffed at this. "I gave Christine a voice that people loved, and still do to this day. She has the voice of an angel," he pointed a finger at Tremaine, "and you know it! Catherine has the same talent, if you would give her a chance to be noticed for once instead of shoving her away because you hold a grudge, good sir." He had to force himself not to curse out the manager. Then, Erik answered his question curtly. "Catherine is everything to me. She is my daughter, you imbecile." Erik's glance turned to Lilly briefly as she let out a squeak of terror, then forced himself to focus on the persistent manager.

 

[Saiyan Princess]

"I do admit that Madame Daae's voice has improved with time. She is lovely in all respects." Tremaine countered. "She has been well taught." "You damned coward!" Catherine spat. "Tell me that I don't work my voice hoarse on a daily basis to prove myself!" There were trails down her cheeks. "You don't deserve your position!" She reached up to slap him, but the manager grabbed her wrist and started twisting it. She yelped in pain. Ali couldn't take much more."Let go!" He wailed.

 

[Guile]

The pure hatred for Tremaine continued to grow within Erik. However, before he could speak against the manager, Catherine did. Erik tried to call her back by yelling her name once, but it was futile, Tremaine had her by the wrist. Erik's eyes widened in shock and horror as he watched the manager grab Catherine's wrist and twist it to the point where she had yelped in pain. Breaking himself from Christine, Erik ran to the two in a blind fury. He knew that trying to pull him off would be useless, so when he approached, he immediately reached out and punched Tremaine hard in the stomach. "Don't ever touch my daughter again!" He screamed these words, laced with a threat, at the manager, his vision still blurred with red fury.

 

[Saiyan Princess]

Catherine sniffled in pain, holding her now bleeding wrist. "I'm sorry, this was a bad idea." She pushed past many people to get to where she felt safe. "Wait!" A man in an eagle mask followed her. "Catherine? Catherine Daae?" He questioned. She nodded, still holding her wrist. He took one look at her injury and immediately ripped his apron to shreds in order to bind her hand. "Sh...sh.." he cooed. "I'll have this wrapped up in no time and then we can get back to that party of yours." Catherine winced, but, at last, the deed was done. "I g-guess...I'll h-have time..." She hugged him. "Andrew!" She finally realized who it was. "Yes, Madame." He led her back and brought his hands to the proper position for a dance.

 

[Guile]

Erik watched his daughter run off, frightened for her. He had seen the blood coming from her wrist. Ignoring the manager, as the safety of Catherine was more important to him, Erik tried to push through the crowd after her. However, he was stopped by the sight of someone already helping her - binding her wrist. Squinting to get a better look, Erik was still unable to tell who it was, but he did see Catherine hug this stranger. Seeing as Catherine was happy to be with this man, and was safe, Erik went back to Christine and the other children. On the way there, his mind was whirling with thoughts of who the man could be. "Dear..." he finally said when he approached Christine. "It seems that Catherine has found a young man to dance with." Erik informed her of what he had seen.

 

[Saiyan Princess]

"Are you sure that you wish to dance with me?" Andrew never withdrew his gaze from the amateur vocalist. "I'm standing in the middle of a crowd of masked strangers, with a torn apron and a stained uniform from serving wine all day." He waved his hand over his attire. "Are you sure that you want to dance with me?" Catherine retorted. "I'm here with a broken hand." She waved it in front of him. They both laughed. Christine tilted her head. "Oh no, we might lose our baby again." She teased. "Are you sure that you want her that close to a man other than you? Doesn't her daddy want to have her close?" She giggled. "Who knows? She may rebel and wish to move away with him."

 

[Guile]

Erik glanced at the two, laughing about something the other had just said. Something about them made him smile, but only just a little for Christine's words really were true fears of his. Turning to look at Christine again, he laughed and teased back, forcing himself to let whatever was going to happen between Catherine and that man to just happen. "You know, you're right." Wrapping his arms around her waist and behind her back, he pulled her close to him. "She may wish to move away..." Erik pretended to be thinking about what he could do to stop such a thing from happening. "I suppose I'll have to threaten her to never see this man again. That way, she can stay at home forever, locked up with us and William and the children. That way you and I shall never get privacy ever again - not even by the time William is thirty because you know I'm not letting him go anywhere either." Chuckling, Erik kissed Christine on the lips. "Yes," he said with a sly grin, "I think I'll make our children stay with us...forever!"

 

[Saiyan Princess]

Christine 'panicked' at the thought of them never having privacy. "Oh dear! Say it isn't so!" She pleaded as the music surrounded them. "Please! By the time your grandson is thirty, you'll be in your seventies. You and I will never have that...." She brought his hand down to her belly, "next child." Her eyes sparkled as she talked. As the younger couple danced, it was like they were alone in their own little world. Nothing else mattered as long as the music continued to play. "I must admit," Andrew finally broke their blissful silence, "your family has planned a wonderful party." Catherine grinned. "Well, as long as certain people aren't here, it will be perfect."

 

[Guile]

Erik laughed at how beautiful Christine was, even when she was teasing him - maybe even especially when she was teasing him. His laughter faded into silence, but a smile stayed on his lips, as she moved his hand to her belly. Erik couldn't keep his eyes from being drawn down to where his hand rested, and he looked back up into Christine's enthralling gaze with hope. "Really?" He asked her, just loud enough for her to hear over the music. Erik was overjoyed. "Do you...can you tell so soon?" His heart beat quickly in his chest, almost matching the beat of the drums that were playing, as hope for another child flickered in his eyes.

 

[Saiyan Princess]

"Oh, I cannot really tell, Erik. I can just hope that angels are smiling down on us." She hugged him. "Good," a voice behind them spoke softly. "If you were pregnant, I'd have to stop this baby from happening as well, right?" Christine looked around. They were being watched by a man in a nice suit and a blue mask over his eyes. The only people in that circle were Erik, Christine, Catherine, Andrew, and the unknown, yet familiar man. The twins had disappeared. "Don't worry, fool." He continued as he spoke, now, directly to Erik. "Your twins and the baby aren't harmed. They are quite safe with my family, for now."

 

[Guile]

Erik turned immediately and saw the strange man watching them, speaking to them. His brows furrowed in confusion as he looked the stranger up and down, trying to figure out who he was. Whoever it was, Erik didn't like the tone in his voice, the threat towards Christine, or the fact that the children were gone and apparently with this man's family. "Don't speak to Christine that way." He said harshly back at the man. "Who are you?" Erik demanded, taking a step closer to the familiar stranger. "And what do you mean my children and William are with your family? Why are they there?" Fear and anger were growing in Erik and he was trying desperately to hide the fear part.

 

[Saiyan Princess]

"Use your senses, will you?!?" He snapped. "I mean, I know the sewage fumes must finally be getting to your thick skull, but, please, at least pretend to be educated." Raoul stepped forward, removed his mask, and tossed it at the couple. "Remember me?" He took Christine's ring hand and examined the gem. "You sold your soul to Satan." He brought her close and wrapped his arm around her and sealed their bond with a kiss. "We had something, Christine. Then, you threw it all away for darkness, doom and despair!" He held onto her until he lifted her into his arms and scurried away. "We'll have it again and no one will stop us."

 

[Guile]

Erik had feared it was Raoul, and had prayed that it was someone else. When Raoul took off the mask Erik growled, "how dare you come back here!" He tried to intervene when Raoul grabbed Christine's hand, but by the time he saw a threat, Raoul already had Christine pulled away from him and was kissing her. "Damn you, vicomte!" Erik yelled over the music, but by the time he was moving foreword out of his shocked passiveness, Raoul had swept Christine up in his arms and started running off with her. This time, Erik refused to let Raoul take Christine from him without a fight. So, he chased after them, shoving past people, knocking some over even, desperately trying to catch up.

 

[Saiyan Princess]

As the Phantom started to catch up, Raoul quickened his pace to a sprint. "Don't worry, my precious little angel. He will never separate us again. Remember, I brought you back into the light once. I protected you. I can do that again." Something in his explanation got Christine's attention. "Ra-Raoul..." she whispered. "Raoul, forgive me. My soul was weak and he picked up the pieces." She kissed him willingly this time. "Lottie!" He was taken aback by this. "Little Lottie...I love you. No more talk of darkness, forget these wide eyed fears..." he kicked his door open. "I'm here, no one will harm you, my words will warm and calm you." He sang as he allowed all three children to have access to her. "All I want is freedom, a world with no more night, and you with me beside me, to guard me and to guide me." Her devotion was again, to Raoul.

 

[Guile]

Erik was running blind, only able to see a blur of motion in front of him that was Christine and Raoul. He started to feel his legs weaken and his breaths were coming in rasps, but he refused to give up. Forcing himself on, he looked up in front of him and blinked. The blur had disappeared and he saw, clear as day, Christine kiss Raoul. Erik's heart lurched in his cheat and he felt as if someone had slowly carved it out with a knife. Tears came to his eyes, blinding him further, and he started to slow in his agony. He watched as Raoul and Christine got further and further from him, the pain bleeding out of his heart and onto the street with his tears. "NO!" Erik screamed at the top of his lungs, unable to stop the burning in his heart. "Christine!" Blinded by the tears in his eyes and weakened by the stabbing pain within him, Erik tripped and fell onto the concrete just as Christine and Raoul disappeared around a corner. Shaking from the pain of the fall, but mostly from the pain in his heart, Erik lay bleeding from several scratches on the ground. Still not wishing to give up, Erik pulled himself off the ground and took a few steps foreword and ran until he reached the corner that they had disappeared around. To his dismay, they had disappeared and Erik didn't know where to go. Unable to keep it together, Erik collapsed to his knees there in the street and wept.

 

[Saiyan Princess]

The family was together at last, minus Catherine. "He frightens me, Raoul. He tried to harm me not too long ago. Raoul, he's returned to his old ways. He'll kill you if he gets the chance!" She told him. "We must have Catherine return to us." She sobbed as her children tried to comfort her by giving her a blanket and food. "My, my, she'll come to her senses and come home soon enough." Raoul assured her. "She's sure to come for William." Catherine brought Andrew behind her as they hurried across Paris. "Papa! What happened!?"

 

[Guile]

Erik hardly heard Catherine and Andrew coming up behind him until his daughter spoke his name. He looked up at them, his face red and stained with tears, his body trembling with pain. "Oh, God..." He couldn't force himself to stand, even if he wanted to. "It's your mother!" He cried. "Sh-she went off with Raoul!" Erik was unable to stop crying, but at that moment of pure agony he could have cared less if he looked like a blubbering idiot. "I chased after her, but...she...I saw her kiss him." The tears came even harder now. "She kissed him willingly!" Putting his face in his hands, he wailed. "Oh, God! Why I am I being punished?! What have I done to deserve this?"

 

[Saiyan Princess]

Raoul heard that Christine was frightened by the Phantom and hugged her close. "Oh, my dear. You need not allow him to have control over you again." He caressed her hair. "Here, let me have your ring. It is a filthy reminder of that horrid creature." He took the ring off of her finger and tossed it out the window. "No longer will you suffer his brutality." He grinned and kissed her again, hearing, quite clearly, the Phantom blubbering in the distance. "I do hope that, even if he does return to his old ways, you won't let your innocent mind be trapped with him like all those years ago. You will all be constantly guarded." He kissed her again and swept his hood over his brunette locks as he went out to the man on the ground. "How does it feel to be all alone again? Isn't it just peachy?" He kicked the already downed man. "You'll never get her back. You're too much of a coward to even try. Maybe, if you were the same man as before, you could stand a chance." He yanked Catherine by the arm and left, but lit a match and tossed it next to Erik. "Have a symmetric face."

 

[Guile]

Erik didn't look up at the vicomte and let the man kick him. He grunted, falling over on his side, the wind getting knocked out of him. Gasping for breath for a few seconds, Erik glanced up at the vicomte, his eyes being the only things that showed just how much he longed to kill the vicomte right then and there. But, Erik was too weak at the moment. As he watched Raoul yank Catherine away by the arm, he felt tears coming again and closed his eyes. The next thing he felt was the whip of the match near him. Opening his eyes, he reached out his hand towards the match and picked it up. The flame was still alive, and Erik longed to do damage with it - wreak havoc across town, or at least burn Raoul's home to the ground. But Erik knew is family was inside, so he simply shook his head in despair before wrapping his hand around the flame and letting it burn him slightly before going out. "Damn you, vicomte." He growled to himself before screaming at Raoul, who had already disappeared. "I hope you rot in Hell!" Already, he was planning in his mind how he would steal his family back. This time, Erik refused to waste away below the Opera until, perhaps one day, they came back to him on their own accord.

 

[Saiyan Princess]

"Mother!" Catherine exclaimed as Raoul opened the door and threw her inside next to Andrew, who had followed them. "Oh, God! Catherine! My precious Catherine!" Christine embraced the girl as she fell to her knees. "Oh, my baby..." She whispered. "The Phantom of the Opera will never hurt you again." Christine thought of these words as she spoke them. "Oh, he is truly a liar. He helped me, yes, but he's possessive and cruel to everyone, especially me." Lilly started her normal sobs. "D-Daddy..." Raoul heard the little girl and pat her head. "Daddy's got you, sweetheart." Alistair refused to say anything. He wanted his true father. Andrew hugged him. "Alistair, is it?" The young one shook his head yes.

 

[Guile]

Erik forced himself to quit his crying, and stood in the street, dusting himself off. He faced the house in which he knew his family resided and stared at it with quiet defiance, as though he were trying to cling to his last scrap of dignity. Though he stood silently, passively, his mind was twisting and turning. Then, suddenly, Erik started to laugh. He didn't know how he was going to do it, but he already set it up in his mind that he was going to steal his family back from Raoul, and the thought brought an intoxicating lightness throughout him. Then, as quickly as it had come about, his laughter stopped. Erik bent over and picked up a rock from the side of the street, and tossed it into the air as he judged its weight. Without thinking further than reminding himself that he didn't want to hurt anyone he cared about, Erik tossed the rock into an upper floor window, knowing they would all be below and that he wouldn't hit anyone. As the crash rang out, Erik reminded himself that he wouldn't have minded cracking the rock over Raoul's skull a few times. He shouted at the house, more so at Raoul, a variation of something he had said some time before. "Now, let it be war upon you!" Unable to do anything affective just then, Erik wiped around and stormed off back to the Opera to plan out how he would win them back. The Phantom had at last returned, and he had Raoul to thank for that.

 

[Saiyan Princess]

The family had heard the crash and William cried his little lungs out. "Sh...sh..." Catherine tried to calm him by changing him and offering him some milk. He wouldn't take it. "What was that?" Alistair jumped up and ran upstairs, followed by Raoul. He grabbed the boy's wrist as gently as possible, so as not to frighten him. "It was that wretch that took you away from me. I'll protect you. Don't worry." He tugged him into a hug and brought him back. "Let's all just calm down." He still spoke. "Then, maybe tomorrow, we'll catch your mother and sister's big debut." "But, "Christine argued, "we can't go back. Monsiuer Tremaine won't allow it." Raoul kissed her again. "I've already talked to him. He'll allow it if you stay with me." Christine couldn't believe it. "W-Wow!" She hugged Catherine and they both started to tear up.

 

[Guile]

As Erik entered the Opera House once again, he slipped through the halls, so as not to be noticed by the mass of people that were starting to disperse and go home, as it was getting later in the night. Heading down the stairs, and across the mass of water to his home, which was once again empty save for his own self, Erik plotted. When he stopped the boat and got out, he sat down on the piano bench and put his head in his hands. No tears came, but his heart still ached as he tried to figure out how he would get his family back. Then, from somewhere above in the House, the voice of the manager came. Not to him of course, but the message it had seemed to be sent from God above. As Erik listened, he overheard that Christine and Catherine would be preforming at the House tomorrow. A smile crept across the Phantom's face. Now he had his answer.

 

[Saiyan Princess]

Christine, with such joy and amazement in her eyes, brought the twins to the room upstairs, noticed the window and sighed. "Your father was here, I see." She whispered as she put Alistair in one bed and Lillith in the other. "Good night, I will see you in the morning, bright and early, for practice." She kissed them both and left the room to join Raoul in the next one. Andrew slept on a cushion in the family room while Catherine took her baby back to her old room. In the morning, Christine went to the kitchen to start making dinner when Raoul wrapped his arms around her from behind and kissed her cheek as she cooked. "Something smells nice." He whispered. "Not now, I'm cooking." She pressed herself against him to move him back. He let go and called all over the house to wake the others.