The Phantom of the Opera: A Beauty and a Beast (Guile and Melody)

[Guile]

"I do love you...and I do want this, Christine." Erik was hesitant and his heart beat was skyrocketing, but he had been reassured that this was what he and Christine both wanted. With that in mind, Erik also waited until is was completely dark. He could hardly see Christine, but her could sense her there, he could hear her steady breathing. At that moment, Erik kissed her fervently and allowed things between them to escalate to levels higher than either of them had dared go before - Erik all the while still making sure to be gentle with her - as the world around them faded.

 

[Saiyan Princess]

The very next day, when Christine finally woke after this experience, she felt nothing beside her. Erik seemed to be gone. No! I was so close! She thought to herself, sighing. The world around her was still very much real. She really had just spent the night with the Phantom of the Opera. "I remember there was mist. Swirling mist upon a vast glassy lake and on the lake there was a boat. And in the boat there was a man." She moved the curtains back and got out of the bed. I see him. Now's my chance! But, no. I'll wait until he relaxes. She walked toward him, timid.

 

[Guile]

Very few could sneak up on the Phantom of the Opera, and the same was true for Christine. Erik had been sitting at his piano, writing music quietly, not wishing to disturb her sleep, when he had heard the soft sounds of her rising and coming his way. Of course, he didn't know that she had been sneaking around or what she had been planning, but he noticed her anyway and turned to greet her with a smile on his face. "Christine," he whispered softly, as if he didn't want to be too loud because she had just woken and was still coming out of sleep. Erik stood and wrapped his arms around her in a hug. "Good morning, my dear." He placed a kiss on her cheek before sitting down on the piano bench once again. "I trust you slept well?" Erik still had interest in speaking with her, quite obviously, he just had a few more things he wanted to finish jotting down. A score was running through his mind and he intended to write the last few bars that he had come up with. Because of this, Erik hunched back over his paper and was frantically scribbling notes on the page. After a few moments, he looked as if he had forgotten she was there. However, he had not. He was simply distracted.

 

[Saiyan Princess]

Christine embraced him when he did her. "Oh, yes, I slept very well, thank you." She kept staring at his mask, or rather, the side the mask was on when he had his back turned. Coming up and looking over his shoulder, she read the beautiful music that he had written. Each note exactly the way God would have placed them. "It's truly beautiful." She hugged his neck from behind, then yanked the mask off.

 

[Guile]

Erik would have thanked her for her comment. He had felt her arms around his neck and just her touch had brought him out of his writing, causing a smile to come to his lips. Before he had a chance to react, however, he felt a cool gust of air on the right side of his face and realized very quickly that his mask was no longer on his face. Erik let out a horrified, pained scream and jumped away from her, frightened. He did his best to hide his face with his hands but he wasn't sure what Christine had seen. "NO! God, no! Damn it, Christine! Why would you do such a thing?" Tears of fury were starting to fall onto his cheeks, but his eyes looked pained and troubled, not angry. The fury he felt was toward himself, for being so naive as to think she would not go searching for an answer herself when he refused to give her one. "How could you do this to me?" He had stopped yelling, but now his voice sounded lost, helpless. Erik felt stripped of his dignity without his mask on. He felt like an animal - a disgusting monster that slightly resembled a man.

 

[Saiyan Princess]

She fell backward as he started ranting and raving about how his mask was now in her hands and not on his face. She dropped it immediately, feeling as if it had burned her. Christine trembled under his anger. She had just ruined his life by doing this to such a poor creature. "I-I'm s-sorry..." she backed away on her hands and knees, until she could move no further and just curled into a ball, crying. "I'M SORRY!" She screamed. Her face wrought with sadness and a hidden fear, she picked up the mask again and held it out to him with a trembling hand.

 

[Guile]

As Christine was crawling away from him, the only thing Erik could think was she hates me. Everything about me repulses her - especially my face. Oh, God, she's afraid of me because she has seen my face. "You lied to me..." Erik whispered this, his tone filled with pain and he looked at her through his own tears. "Y-you told me...I could keep my secret." He closed his eyes in agony and shook his head, the tears having begun to fall onto his face now. "Oh, Christine. Why? I warned you...I told you it would haunt you. You will never be able to forget this image." Erik finally closed his mouth, his throat had become to tight to speak. When, at last, he opened his eyes, Erik saw Christine holding out his mask toward him. That's when he saw that she was trembling which caused him to sob audibly now and sink to his knees. "Why?" He was weeping toward the floor, but was calling out to, what seemed like, God. "Why must I live this way? Frighten and repulse everyone that I love?" Erik looked up at Christine with guilt and regret in his eyes before slowly crawling the few feet over to her and taking his mask gingerly from her hands. He bowed his head in shame for a few moments, just till she let go, then placed the mask back over his face. "Forgive me...for everything." He meant for his behavior, his shouting, and he even meant for being who he was - for looking like he did.

 

[Saiyan Princess]

Christine flinched as he took the mask away from her, expecting him to hit her for her actions. When he didn't, she crawled toward him, placing her hands on his knees and pushing herself up to wrap her arms around his neck. "Master, I'm sorry! Please don't leave me!" She begged. "Please, I apologize to you for everything, please!" She was trembling still. "You have a secret and I promise I'll respect that from now on. I thought that you could trust me after what happened last night!" Her arms never left him. "There is nothing to forgive. If I had been in the same position, I would have cursed you as well."

 

[Guile]

Erik saw Christine flinch and he actually gasped in pain. His heart broke when he saw this - she thought he would hit her! As he was thinking about this, to his surprise, Christine had crawled over to him and wrapped her arms around his neck. He was hesitant at first, but it only took mere moments for Erik to wrap his arms tightly around Christine and pull her close to him. He could feel her trembling and so he rocked back and forth just slightly, hoping to comfort her somehow. "Oh, Christine, I would never hurt you. You should know that. And I will never leave you. I promised you this long ago and I don't ever plan on breaking that promise to you." Tears were still in his eyes and his voice was a bit shaky, but he at least could hold her tight and place kisses on her forehead and the sides of her face. "It's alright, Christine. Everything is alright. I forgive you, my dear. I forgive you." He kept whispering this over and over in her ear until she could calm her trembling. "Christine I do trust you. I would trust you with my life and now, I trust you with my secret. I have nothing else to hide from you. You have seen it all now and, if there is anyway you can look past my hideous face, we have nothing to worry about. I promise you, my face is the ugliest part of me - that, and my past. But that is the past and has nothing to do with you and I. I promise." Then he added, still softly, "and I do not curse you. Forgive what I said when you took off my mask, I beg you. I was frightened. Oh, I was horrified!"

 

[Saiyan Princess]

Erik kept talking. Each word caused Christine's heart to slow down. To calm. When he started to rock her, her whole experience had been just a terrible memory now. All was forgiven now that they had both calmed themselves. "I believe you, Erik. You've never hurt me before. I know you, Erik Destler, like the back of my hand, like the corridors and the people that live in your theatre." She smiled at his kind precious face. "If it makes you feel better, I only saw some of your secret." She kissed him. "You're truly a beauty." She kissed him again, not caring about anything else around them.

 

[Guile]

Erik was surprised that she knew his last name, but made no comment. The idea, however, caused his heart to swell up and a smile to come to his lips. "I suppose that does make me feel a little better." He chuckled warmly, softly, but was cut short by her kiss. When she broke it, she said the most beautiful thing: You're truly a beauty. Oh, how it touched his heart in all the right places. The of sadness tears had gone from his eyes, but ones of joy threatened to take their place. He wouldn't allow them to, not now. This was too precious of a moment to spend wasted in tears. When she kissed him again, Erik didn't waste any time and kissed her back just as passionately. He ran his hands up to her shoulders, then around to her back and rested them there, lost in Christine and the beautiful things that had happened to them within the last twenty-four hours.

 

[Saiyan Princess]

Christine kissed him as well, letting herself get lost in this kiss. Reluctantly, she released him. "I must return." She rested her forehead on his. "I am due for some time out, don't you think?" She took his head in her hands, smiling at just how happy this man made her. "I don't believe a Countess is known for being tardy." She giggled. "Then, of course, my Count isn't exactly on time all the time." She teased. "I think he should be replaced with someone better." Finally getting up, she ventured toward the exit.

 

[Guile]

Erik couldn't help letting out a sigh as the kiss was broken, his smile quite evident as their foreheads rested on one another. "Well, I suppose you have earned some time out in the world." He chuckled at this and her next tease. "Now, don't be so hasty to replace him. Give the man a chance to better himself." He stood as Christine did and opened the gate for her. "Would you like to take the boat? I wouldn't want you to get wet, dear. I could take you back if you wish." Erik offered, waiting by the lever for an order, which he would happily obey.

 

[Saiyan Princess]

She also felt a piece of her heart being torn as she was forced to let go of Erik. "Oh, I've earned a privilege, I see." She raised a brow. "How do I earn more?" She returned to the rickety, old boat and sat down in her designated spot. "If I'm honest, I don't want to just leave you alone. I just want to stay here. Promise me that you'll be with me on stage. Whether in my mind or physically, sir." She turned to look at him.

 

[Guile]

"Indeed, you have, my dear." Erik chuckled and got into the boat behind her. "To keep earning more, you just have to keep doing what you're doing. Just love me." He joked lightly, picked up the ores, and began rowing. "And if I'm honest, I don't want you to leave. It has always torn my heart, being away from you. However, I understand you must live your life above. You must perform - it is your passion and I want you to do things that you love." When she turned around to look at him, Erik smiled lovingly at her. "I will always be there, the same it true for tonight. I don't know if I will always be on stage, but if I'm not, I will be with you in your mind...and, your heart." Erik hoped that this was true, but that was completely up to Christine and how she truly felt about him. He had no control over that.

 

[Saiyan Princess]

Christine couldn't take her mind nor her eyes off of Erik. "I just wish we could have a duet sometime." She watched over Erik's shoulder as her safe haven disappeared from view. "It isn't fair that you can't come up there with me. What if I get scared? What if I forget something?" She had a face full of worry. If it wasn't white, her face would very likely be green. "What if I start panicking?"

 

[Guile]

"You won't be scared, Christine, and you won't forget. You are a very talented singer and actress. If I could come up with you, I would without a doubt. But do not worry, Christine. I will be there watching. If you start to get nervous, just breath deeply and perform for me and me alone. Pretend that I am the only one watching. If you need to, look at me. I will be in my normal box, five." Erik smiled at her, bent forward and placed a kiss on the top of her head just as the boat came to a gentle stop on the other side. He got out and extended his hand to her. "How about I promise you something? If I give you the promise of a duet with me the next time we are alone, will that put your mind at ease enough to cease your worrying?"

 

[Saiyan Princess]

Christine felt her whole world come together as she was kissed by the being that most people fear in this place. She felt a sense of calmness, as if she were floating through the air with nothing but Erik beside her. "Your voice is so very lovely, that I wouldn't have mine without yours. You have been such a blessing in my life since you first told me to hush." She got up as he offered a hand. "Hush, child. I am here." She kissed his hand. "Remember?" To answer the question, she nodded. "I promise to stop worrying."

 

[Guile]

Erik helped her out of the boat carefully, though he was more focused on her words and didn't look away from her eyes. A smiled appeared suddenly on his lips as Christine brought up the memory from long ago - the time they first met. "Of course I remember. I could never forget." He whispered his assurance to this. "Though, I am surprised that you do. You were so young..." Erik's eyes were full of amazement, even as his hand still tingles from the sensation of her lips against his skin. "I don't think your realize what a blessing you are to me. You are proof that there is, indeed, a God." He smiled sincerely at her to show her he truly meant what he said. "You've saved my life, Christine. In more ways than one." Erik promised her this and, when he was satisfied that she would no longer worry, took her hand, entwined their fingers again, and led her up the stairs to the world above.

 

[Saiyan Princess]

"True, I was indeed young, but if someone does something that is worthy of my memory, I remember it." She was led through a corridor and with a wave of her hand, she said goodbye to Cesar, the horse that went missing during one of the performances and now serves the Phantom. "Why did you take him, by the way?" She asked as she climbed the stairs and glimpsed Madame Giry through the mirror, calling out her name. "Christine? Miss Daae, where are you? You cannot keep disappearing with Erik." She grumbled.

 

[Guile]

Erik's heart warmed up at Christine's words. I suppose that's why I can never get you out of my head. Everything you do or say is etched into my brain... "Why?" Erik let out a chuckled before explaining his reason for taking Cesar. "Well, if you must know, I needed a horse to get me around when I do leave the Opera, which is not often. In fact, I haven't left for quite sometime. But, I take care of him. He's well-treated and I don't know when I may be able to use him." Erik looked up and also saw Madame Giry in the mirror. He placed his hands on Christine's shoulders to stop her for just a moment, before they got too close to where Madame Giry could hear them. "Wait." Erik turned her to face him and smiled. "Forgive me," he whispered, "I just wanted to wish you luck before you go, remind you that I will be there and that you will do beautifully." He ran his hands over her hair as he placed a soft kiss on her lips - the real reason why he hadn't wanted to get to where Madame Giry could hear them.

 

[Saiyan Princess]

Christine shrugged when he asked why she wanted to know. How he had gotten the animal down here was another question, but that slipped from her mind as she was pulled into yet another kiss. "I'll miss you, my dearest." She promised him. "Oh, how I wish I didn't have to go!" She laid her head against his chest for a while, savoring the moment with a man that needed a friend. She would be that friend whether society liked it or not. "Don't forget your promise. Take care of him, please. And, don't forget our deal. I remain calm and you give me that duet." She kissed him once again, then disappeared. Madame Giry looked up. "Ah, there you are. I see he has shown you what a little girl wanted to see so long ago." Christine hugged the woman. "Oh, my lady, I'm truly sorry. Time got away from us." The woman hugged her in return. "There, there. No harm done. You are back where you belong. You are alive and well."

 

[Guile]

Erik had smiled at her and nodded, letting her know that he would remember his promises and certainly keep them. And I will miss you, darling. He thought as she kissed him, then left. Erik waited for a few moments to listen to what Madame Giry had to say to Christine, making sure that she didn't give her too much trouble for something that had been mostly his fault. Like Erik suspected, she did not. God bless that woman. She is a saint. Erik smiled, closed his eyes, and shook his head thinking about all that Madame Giry had done for him. Satisfied, Erik looked down at himself, made sure he was presentable, then turned and made his way out of his dark corridors, through a trap door of his, and into the hallway of the Opera. He wasted no time making his way to box five. He had promised Christine he would be there, and that's exactly where he would be.

 

[Saiyan Princess]

Christine hugged Madame Giry for a little while longer, then, she let go, hearing people file into the audience and take their seats. "It's time..." she whispered excitedly to herself, remembering what Erik had said. "Sing only for me, Christine." She planned on doing just that. No one else mattered to her, though Raoul was in Box Three, himself, watching her. "Christine, you're such a wonderful sight, yet, so pale." He whispered to himself. Christine stayed back, until the music started. That's when she took center stage. When she laid eyes on the Count, she imagined that it was Raoul, then Erik, then Raoul again. The face would switch back and forth in her mind. When she opened her mouth to speak, no sound came out. Oh, no! My voice! My lines!

 

[Guile]

Erik made his way through the shadows to Box Five as usual, opened the door, and took his seat. Everything was going fine, and Christine was looking just splendid this evening. It made his heart beat rise, and a smile form on his lips. As she took center stage Erik sat on the edge of his seat, unusually eager to hear her voice. Then, he noticed her struggles. Something was happening to her - she opened her mouth, but nothing came out. Erik could almost see the panic in her eyes. No, Christine. It's alright. He stood, an act that was rather strange for him, and stared intently at her. It was if Erik were willing her to sing. Christine, I am here. Sing for me...