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

[Guile]

Erik, with his eyes closed, had no idea it was Catherine that was speaking to him in a very believable imitation of Christine, and had her arms wrapped around him. Though, he did think that it was strange that Christine would come over to him like this after she had just complained about personal space issues. Still, he did not open his eyes and had no reason to think that it wasn't actually Christine. "I know what you're trying to do. It isn't going to work, Christine. You aren't going to tease me into coming back to you. If you were hell-bent on spending time alone, you wouldn't have your arms wrapped around me now, would you? No." With this, Erik took Catherine's arms and pulled them gently off of him - still with his eyes closed and completely oblivious to the fact that it was his daughter, and not his wife, that he was talking to. "If you want your alone time - have it. I shall stay here and sleep." Erik was still teasing, but he didn't know that it was not Christine he was teasing.

 

[Saiyan Princess]

Catherine replaced her arms around his neck, giving him her biggest hug ever. "Oh, but I've recently changed my mind, Erik." Catherine sighed as she used her father's name. "I want you to be around me, but I just don't want you breathing my air, my dearest." Luckily, the mother and daughter were practically identical to one another. "But, it is that I'm smothering the children and you don't seem to be carrying your own weight." Catherine decided to lay in her father's arms and listen to the rhythm of his heart. "It truly isn't fair at all."

 

[Guile]

Erik let out a low noise that resembled a growl, still only teasing, as he felt her arms around his neck again. He kept his eyes firmly shut and, for a while, refused to even talk back to her. That was, until she decided to lay in his arms. Still oblivious, Erik was tempted to open his eyes and kiss her, but he didn't - he wanted to stay strong. He had made up his mind that he would continue to refuse Christine's advances until he had her crawling back to him. "Not carrying my own weight, huh? Well, right now it seems as if I am carrying not only my own, but yours as well." He mumbled under his breath to her, commenting on how she was sitting in his lap. Erik made sure to keep his hands away from her and keep his eyes shut. He would do everything in his power to not give Christine the satisfaction of seeing him give in to her. In fact, Erik was tempted to remove her from his lap, but he didn't even want to touch her. He remembered what his touch did to her sometimes and did not want her to enjoy his touch, no matter how brief.

 

[Saiyan Princess]

The child looked to her mother for help, as though she had an idea that Catherine hadn't thought of. Christine was of no help, so Catherine had to come up with something. "Alright, fine. If you won't even look at me, I see no reason to continue my union to you." She was threatening divorce early on. Nodding to her mother, Catherine kissed Erik's lips, not a passionate kiss, but rather plain. "That is the very last one that you shall ever receive from me." She got up and started walking toward the exit. "Goodbye, my ex husband." She smirked.

 

[Guile]

When 'Christine' threatened divorce, Erik still kept his eyes closed. "That's fine by me." Of course, he was teasing. "At least then I will be able to sleep in peace." Then, she kissed him and immediately Erik knew something was wrong. It was her kiss that warned Erik that this Christine' was a fake. He guessed rather quickly that it was Catherine. After all, who could pull off such a wonderful imitation of Christine but her? Feeling that he now had the upper hand, as he did not give any sign to them that he knew the truth, Erik turned the game around on Christine - the real one. "Goodbye, Christine." He still didn't open his eyes. Erik didn't want them to figure out that he knew the truth just yet. "Don't forget the children. You don't expect me to actually take care of them now that you're leaving, do you?" With this, he rolled over on his side as if he were going to sleep for real. "Give the Vicomte my regards."

 

[Saiyan Princess]

Christine sighed. "Alright, I guess your father doesn't love you children." The real Christine spoke softly, sadly, as she started packing away her belongings into a few bags. "Come, children." They started toward the exit with their mother. Catherine knew that she had messed up, but didn't want to kiss Erik in the manner that he had expected. In the manner that she had when she was just a young girl, barely older than the twins were now. "Bye bye, papa." They told him as they started to leave.

 

[Guile]

Hearing that Christine, the real one, was truly speaking and packing their bags, Erik's eyes shot open. He saw them, making their way toward the exit and, no longer caring about his ridiculous game, Erik stood and ran to them. Without saying a word in warning as to what he was going to do, Erik lifted Christine off her feet and into his arms. He smiled at her and, before she had a chance to protest, forced a passionate kiss on her lips. "Now, those are the lips of my Christine. I would know them anywhere." He teased, letting them know that he had figured out the truth and how he had done so. "You didn't actually think that I was going to let you leave, did you?" Erik smiled and was still teasing, but the fearful thought of her actually leaving him put a serious softness to his tone.

 

[Saiyan Princess]

Christine yelped again, not expecting such a reaction to come from her husband. "Wow! Erik, you old Romeo, you!" She felt like they were young again. Just starting their lives together. "You're so strong!" She kissed him in return, longing for these lips. "I knew you would never, ever let me leave you! I thought, at first, that you would." With her arms around his neck, she held on as tightly as she could. "You're such an intelligent mind that I knew you would see through my ruse." Her heart hammered happily as he held her close. "I've truly missed you!"

 

[Guile]

"Old Romeo? What kind of a complement is that, my dear? You could at least lie to me and pretend that I am not aging!" Erik laughed and held her tightly in his arms, oh so glad that she was not bitter at him for teasing her in such a way. "I knew it the minute Catherine gave me a kiss. Speaking of which..." He reached out and ruffled his eldest daughter's hair. "How dare you play such a horrible trick on me! How dare you both!" Laughing, Erik was unable to stop smiling down at Christine. He began placing kisses all around her angelic face, some even on her neck. Then, he stopped, laughing. "Wait...am I being too clingy? I will stop if you wish."

 

[Saiyan Princess]

Christine threw her head back as she laughed again. "Yes, I said old Romeo. I said it once and I shall say it again." Placing her own lips on his neck, she kissed it softly, without much passion. "Don't feel bad. You're still good to me in so many ways, Erik. Fantastic, in fact, that I know you'll put my things back where they belong." She looked over his shoulder at the luggage that she had dropped, scaring the little puppy in the process so badly that he had an accident. "The poor thing is scared to death." Catherine watched as he took off and hid under the bed and Erik ruffled her hair. She looked quite annoyed with him. "Don't patronize me. My wedding is in two days and I'm so nervous!"

 

[Guile]

Erik growled, putting on a fake annoyed look, as Christine threatened to call him 'old Romeo' again. "You had better not, love. I may be old, but you aren't far behind me." He raised a brow at her teasingly, unable to hide his smile. Then, she mentioned putting her things back for her and he put her back down on her feet. "I think not!" Erik teased, turning from her and crossing his arms in defiance. "You played a nasty trick on me, Christine. You were the one that so hastily decided to leave when I turned your trick back on you. No, this time, you may clean up your own mess." He had to force himself not to laugh as he replied to Catherine. "If you were so worried about your upcoming wedding, you wouldn't have been picking on your poor father who, given recent events, may or may not be willing to walk you down the isle now." Erik teased, of course. He knew he wouldn't miss Catherine's wedding for the world.

 

[Saiyan Princess]

"Whether or not you actually get to partake in a father's greatest moment in his daughter's life or not is truly not my problem." Catherine rolled her eyes. "Peter will do it if I ask him to do so." Her eyebrow lifted in a cruel tease. "Or, I could call your friend, Raoul, and have him do it." She smirked. "He was my father for a good portion of my life." Christine did as she was told, cleaned up the puppy's mess, then her own. "You know, Catherine, my blessing, that is not a bad idea." She took Catherine by the hand and led her further. "Let's go ask him, now!" She was excited.

 

[Guile]

Erik was insulted, or, at least he looked like he was when he turned to face Catherine. "How dare you try and give my duty as a father to another man." At this point he was talking about Peter, a man he respected and liked, but would most certainly not be giving Erik's little girl away. Then, she mentioned Raoul and Erik was speechless. Though it was only a tease, he couldn't help feeling disgusted at the idea. "Oh, yes. He was a wonderful father, wasn't he? So wonderful, in fact, that he took to beating you all." Then, Christine joined in on this tease, making Erik run after them and take them by the shoulders to stop them. "Oh, no you don't. I won't have that man at my daughters wedding. And I most certainly will not allow him to give her away."

 

[Saiyan Princess]

The smiles of both Christine and Catherine faded when they saw how genuinely upset Erik was. "Stop it, Father! You're starting to scare me!" She did look frightened, almost cowering under Erik as she would Raoul. Breathing heavily, she started panicking and having flashbacks of her childhood. "NO! DADDY, STOP IT! PLEASE! I'M SORRY! I'LL BE GOOD NEXT TIME!" Her face white as she sank to her knees and Andrew took her in his arms. "Raoul isn't here. You're safe, Catherine." He stroked her hair as she kept crying. "Erik, please don't do that again. You don't know her at night. Every night, it's like this." He held his trembling fiancee. Christine was stunned, no one moved.

 

[Guile]

Erik froze, his heart breaking as he watched Catherine cower before him as if he would hurt her. He tried to open his mouth to apologize, to say something to her that would bring her out of this state, but she started screaming before he even had the chance. Her words cut his heart like a knife. He knew they weren't directed at him - that she was having flashes from her childhood. Erik was thankful when Andrew calmed her slightly, but her tears kept coming. "I didn't know...God, why didn't she ever tell me?" He whispered, still horrified, as he sank to his knees beside them and placed his hand on his daughter's shoulder, trying to comfort her. "God, what did he do to you, my sweet little girl?" Erik wasn't looking for an answer - he already knew how horrible Raoul had been to the children. Fury built up inside him just thinking about it. He wanted to reach out and punch the wall, but his anger would do nothing but upset Catherine more. The last thing she needed was to be reminded of violence. I will kill him. I will kill the Vicomte if he ever tries to hurt my family again.

 

[Saiyan Princess]

Catherine took a few more minutes in her own memory. It was heartbreaking for the whole family to watch, until, finally, Catherine came out of her altered state of mind and hugged her father as though he had just saved her from Raoul's wrath just now. "Oh, Papa, I'm so sorry! You shouldn't have seen me like that!" She was trembling like the scared little girl she once was. Andrew never moved his hand from her back, as though that was helping her. "I'm sorry, truly I am!" She thought of the question that came from her father's lips. "He's stopped doing anything since I reached fourteen years. He got scared since I started disappearing with you." She had to smile, satisfied with that memory.

 

[Guile]

"Sorry?" Erik held his daughter tightly, not wanting to ever let her go again, as tears came to his eyes. "Do not ever be sorry for that. If anyone should be sorry it's the horrible man that did this to you." Running his fingers through her hair comfortingly, Erik placed a kiss on his daughter's forehead. "If I had known what he was doing to you back then..." Erik didn't want to say what he was thinking. I would have found him and killed him without a second thought. "I would never have let him hurt you, Catherine. And he'll never hurt you again - you or any of the children." Erik knew he would make damn sure of that. He had to laugh a little when Catherine told him Raoul stopped hurting her when she started disappearing with him. "Good. I'm glad he was afraid of me. I wish he would wake up every night screaming in fear that I might come and kill him at any moment." Still, a thought came to Erik's mind. Why, after all that Raoul had done to the children, why would Christine go back to him? Erik knew that Christine had known Raoul since they were very young, but was that enough for her to keep loving him after abusing her children? Erik couldn't help recalling all the times, before he was married to Christine, that she would run back to him. Why? The thought kept bothering him.

 

[Saiyan Princess]

Christine watched all of this with a rather sheepish expression on her face. She knew exactly what Erik was thinking. She knew that he still questioned her actions, and, who could blame him? Christine definitely didn't blame him at all. She knew that she was being stupid and selfish, even now, because a part of her still loved Raoul. Still loved the man that he once was. Catherine felt herself melt under the love that she felt radiating from her father as he played in her hair. "You're right. He is family to Andrew, but he definitely shouldn't go to the wedding." She kissed his cheek. "So, do you still want to walk me?"

 

[Guile]

Erik couldn't have been more pleased with Catherine's sudden change in attitude. How nice it was to see her bright smile again and feel her warm kiss on his cheek! "Of course I still want to, my dear!" Erik laughed and hugged her tight to him once more. "I wouldn't have my little girl's wedding any other way." He stood at last, and helped Catherine to her feet as well. Erik hoped that Raoul wouldn't show up to the wedding. It would just enrage Erik and he knew he would want to hurt the man as soon as he got one look at him. That's when he looked over and noticed the look on Christine's face. Unable to take looking into her eyes and seeing love, but love that was for another man - a man that had hurt their children - caused Erik to feel sick. He had to force himself to look away from her.

 

[Saiyan Princess]

Christine immediately wiped the look from her lips, seeing her husband react. She cursed herself for sinning against her own husband and, at once, she embraced him. "Oh, my husband, forgive me!" She placed a kiss on his lips. "I have sinned against you. But, no matter. It shan't happen again." Unable to relax until Erik responded, she waited in sheer agony.

 

[Guile]

Erik was, to say the least, surprised by Christine's reaction. He hadn't expected her to ask for forgiveness for loving - even if it was another man. "Christine...you have not sinned. I understand. Actually, no, Christine." He could not lie to her. "I don't understand. I-I am trying, really I am. But I can't see why you still love him." Erik felt selfish for being upset, but he couldn't help it. He had always tried to be sensitive to Christine's feelings, especially when it came to her feelings for him and Raoul. But, Christine was his wife now. They had children together - a happy lifestyle. Erik had always done everything he could to make her happy. Didn't he have a right to be at least a little offended that his wife still loved another man? For the first time in his life, Erik did not - could not - return her kiss.

 

[Saiyan Princess]

"Oh, you are upset with your Christine." She whined. "I'm so sorry, but he was a shoulder to cry on when you told me to go and leave you here, Erik. He helped me out of the gutter." She fell to her knees, still holding his hand, her forehead on his knee. She was crying. "I was a lovesick woman, Erik!" She covered her face, ashamed now. "Please, kiss me! Hold me!" She looked pathetic as she raised her arms up to him, similar to how Jonathan would do. "Please?"

 

[Guile]

The sight of Christine crying there on the ground, begging him to kiss her, hold her, was enough to kill Erik. How he wanted to obey her wishes and comfort her, apologize for what he'd said. But...he just couldn't. He was so confused, so hurt, that he pulled away from her and took a few steps back, holding his head in his hands as if his thoughts were physically hurting him. "I told you to leave me because I only ever wanted what was best for you and leaving me at the time, I thought, was best. I thought you hated me. I thought you would never love me and would never be happy if I forced you to stay here. What kind of life would that be? I didn't know he would take you away and, once he had you - once he got what he wanted - that he would beat our children! I have always had your best interest in mind. I did all that I did for you because I loved you. What has he ever done for you? He helped comfort you when I asked you to leave. Then, you have a child and he beats her! What kind of a man does that? And why on earth, once you realized what kind of a man he really was, why in God's name would you go back to him? You nearly killed me each time you left me to go back to him! I would have rather you just left the country alone, without him or me! At least then I would have known you weren't going back to the likes of that!" Erik was desperately clinging to the last shred of dignity that he had at this point. "Do you know how much it hurts to look into your wife's eyes and see love that is for another man? And not just any man, but a man that abused our children! A man that took you from me time and time again, even after you kept telling me that you loved me. You still went back to him. How...how could you do all that to me and then ask me to forgive you for still loving him?" Tears were streaming down Erik's cheeks now, but he did not care. He didn't even try to hide them.

 

[Saiyan Princess]

Christine was very close to getting physically sick at this point. Her cheeks were a pale green as she crawled pathetically toward Erik and wrapped her arms around his legs again. "Listen, I'm sorry!" Her voice was cracking now. "I won't ever leave you alone like that again! I'm yours! I'm yours!" She kissed his knees in turn. "God, kill me! I deserve nothing but death for betraying your angel!" She felt herself shaking, but she didn't care. She was losing her Erik! Her Phantom!

 

[Guile]

Erik was about to remove himself from her grasp again, too pained to feel her touch or even face her at the moment. But that was when she called out to God...asking for death. Erik was horrified and the thought brought fresh tears to his eyes. "No, Christine!" He pulled her arms off of him, only enough to get on his knees in front of her. He took her gently by the shoulder and forced her to look in his eyes. "Don't you ever say that, Christine. Don't ever say that you deserve death. I can't bear to hear it - it is anything but true!" Unable to take anymore of her tears, Erik pulled her to his body and held her tightly, rocking gently back and forth, trying so very hard to calm her. "Oh, Christine, I am sorry. I am so sorry, my beautiful angel. I was upset...I didn't mean to hurt you. If anyone deserves death it is I, for making you cry - for making you hurt like this."