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

[Guile]

As Erik lie unconscious on his floor, he dreamed. It was an odd dream, an uncontrollable one that he was forced to endure even though he knew he was only dreaming. He could see himself, lying in a pool of blood, but he wasn't in his room. No, he was back in his old lair at the Opera House in Paris. Standing over his own lifeless form like a spirit, he watched as Meg ripped the knife from his chest for the fourth time. Meg...stabbed me? He found himself thinking even in this odd nightmare. That's when Erik turned his head and saw Christine on her knees by his lifeless body, Meg now gone. He heard her sobs, her prayer. Unknown to Erik, the words she was speaking in his nightmare were the ones she was speaking aloud from where she sat in her room at this very moment. Still, within this nightmare, Meg was cursing his lifeless form for causing him so much pain. From a distance, Erik could hear the weeping of Madame Giry and the shrill wails of Gustav. It was then that he woke, breathing heavily and sweating horribly. He quickly felt for his heart beat, placing his hand over his chest and running his hands up and down his body as if checking that he truly was alive. He was, but he was still too weak to stand. "God...what have I done?" He croaked out, his voice rather hoarse. Erik was sober now, but his head pounded and his hand burned. It was then that he remembered he had cut it himself. Moaning, Erik let his head rest back on the floor again as he just took a few moment to regain his breath.

 

[Saiyan Princess]

"Please, come back to me." Christine sobbed. "God, if there is a God," for she was doubting His existence now, because her angel was not there, "I want Erik to know how very sorry I am. Papa Gustav, if you hear me, please, send word to him." Her voice was weak. Gustav was crying, but she didn't have the strength to get up and tend to him. "Please, let him come." Madame Giry, unbeknownst to Christine, was listening in to the young woman's prayer. "I have to find him!" She, without saying a word to anyone, left the manor in search of her friend. "ERIK! Erik, answer me!"

 

[Guile]

Erik lay on the floor of his room for several minutes, struggling to regain his breath and return to consciousness completely. He tried to move, but a few times he feared he would pass out again. As soon as he stopped moving and just breathed, however, his head would stop spinning and his heart rate would calm. Erik groaned, wondering how on Earth he would be able to get up like this, but that's when he heard Madame Giry's voice calling out to him. "Madame..." His voice was hoarse and weak and he feared, because of the failed first few attempts, that she would not hear him. Fortunately, after just a few tries, eh was able to raise his voice to a hearable level. "Madame! I am in my room!" Erik called out breathlessly, once again trying to stand as he did so.

 

[Saiyan Princess]

Erik's voice was like heaven, not only to Christine's ears, but to the heart of his mother figure as well. "Erik, my dearest friend." She was exasperated with emotion that she couldn't believe it of herself, not only that, but she couldn't believe that Erik was still alive. "What did you do?!" She searched the vicinity for anything involved in first aid. "Now, you need a doctor immediately." She started wrapping his hands and any cuts that Erik had. "My boy, you must come with me. Christine is so frightened with the fact that you'll be dead soon if you don't come with me now." She trembled as well. "But, I won't let you be seen like this. You're going to the hospital first." Madame Giry pulled her up. "Now, please come with me." She had tears. "You will see Gustav after you heal."

 

[Guile]

Erik closed his eyes, sighing in relief when he realized Madame Giry had heard him. Before he knew it, she was there beside him, tending to his cuts. "Christine...is frightened?" He asked, still only half returned to consciousness. In fact, he was beginning to feel drowsy, but simply because the ordeal he had been through had worn him out physically and emotionally. For this reason, Erik did not fight his friend as she helped him stand. "No. No, I cannot go to the hospital." He didn't want to disobey her, but he was terrified of the hospital. "They will check under my mask and when they see me...oh, they'll want to ship me off to some lab and have me examined and tested like some kind of animal!" It was his turn to begin shaking, close to tears at the idea.

 

[Saiyan Princess]

"Oh, very well. There will be no hospital." She assured him, dragging him along as best she could. "Do you not trust me with your secret? That's quite the shame." Now, she didn't know what to do with her friend. He needed help, but he didn't want the hospital. Turning attention to the others, she barked. "I want this mess cleaned up. Mister Y will be alright, but he needs rest." She didn't have any other choice but to relive the past and take Erik to Meg's Opera House across the street.

 

[Guile]

Erik groaned as she helped him across the street. He was still feeling light-headed, as if he might faint again at any moment, and it was undeniable that his hand ached almost as much as his heart did. "Thank you, Madame. Forgive me, I do trust you - I trust you with my life. You must understand my position, though. It is those wretched doctors that I do not trust. If they looked upon my face they could have me whisked away before you could even stop them, my friend." Erik had a hard time speaking, for he was focusing on just breathing so that he did not pass out.

 

[Saiyan Princess]

Madame Giry understood completely. "That's alright. I'm certain that this building has a doctor on hand that could help us." She whispered as she pushed her way inside and laid him on the sofa close to the entrance. You could tell by the way it looked that it was used for more than just lounging. "Wait here." She begged the man as she ran off to find help. She only came back ten minutes later, with a rather portly little man who claimed to be a doctor. "Now, what have we here?" He started doctoring the wounds. "Tsk tsk, looks to me that someone must be more careful, sir." The jolly little man smiled at Erik. "Good thing that these wounds are superficial and can easily be mended."

 

[Guile]

Erik half-sighed, half-moaned as Madame Giry placed him on the sofa. He could only grunt in response to her order to wait where he was but, should he have been in a better state, he would have teased her for it. Where else could I go? I can hardly stand on my own. A smile came to Erik's lips at his own thoughts, but the stinging in his hand quickly removed it. Thankfully, Madame Giry returned with another man rather quickly. "Thank you..." He whispered, still fighting to stay conscious, as the man went to work at his wounds.

 

[Saiyan Princess]

"Of course, sir." The unnamed man smiled when Erik's bleeding stopped and he could safely wrap the wounds without fear of it causing as much pain. "It's my job." "It's mine too." Madame Giry smiled and smoothed the grown man's hair back, as if this really were her son. "I love you far too much not to, my love."

 

[Guile]

Erik had closed his eyes, resting as the man finished wrapping his wounds. It wasn't until he felt the soft caress of his old friend that he opened his eyes and looked up at her, his own full of guilt. "My friend, I am so sorry." He whispered, just now realizing the fright she must have endured because of his sudden rampage earlier. "I never meant to frighten you and Meg off. I never would have hurt either of you, even in the horrible state I was in. I don't blame you for leaving, though. I'm just so grateful that you came back." Erik took her hand in his right one, that being less injured than the other, and squeezed it lightly before placing a kiss on the back of her hand.

 

[Saiyan Princess]

Madame Giry smiled down at him. "Listen, what happened back then doesn't matter. It's in the past." She kissed his hand as well. "I would probably have done the very same thing." Her voice was soft as she paid the doctor for his services and watched him leave. "You mean more to me then some silly argument."

 

[Guile]

Erik was so relived by his friend's words that he almost began to weep, but he held the tears back just at the brim of his eye and kept his voice steady. "Thank you, my friend. You truly are a gift...I don't know what I would have done if I had lost you and Meg as well. I've never had anyone who has cared for me as you have, other than Christine, and I would be lost without you. I can't believe I let such hideousness inside me come out in front of you two. I am ashamed of myself." And he truly was. I am just as much a monster on the inside as I am on the outside. That is what Christine had tried to tell me so long ago.

 

[Saiyan Princess]

Madame Giry pat his head. "Hush, now. All is forgiven." She smiled, still being as forgiving as she was before the man had ever apologized. "You needn't be so hard on yourself when you had every right to be angry." Meg was hidden behind her mother, still scared. Her friend had almost killed them when he was drunk. "Erik, please don't ever do that again. It was very scary." She admitted, not wanting to cry in front of him. "I'm sorry about you having to go through this pain. I'm sorry that Christine left and I'm sorry that Raoul is in possession of Gustav." She whimpered, still cowering behind the woman.

 

[Guile]

Erik closed his eyes and sighed in relief. He knew he had been forgiven, but to hear it from his friend's lips gave him great joy. However, he heard Meg's voice then - heard the fear in her tone - and he opened his eyes to give her a sympathetic look. Reaching his hand out to her, Erik did his best to make her feel better about the whole situation. "Meg, I am so sorry. Your mother says I am forgiven, and perhaps I am, but that won't take your fright away. Please, don't fear me...I would never hurt you or your mother intentionally. If I had been of clear mind I would never have lashed out like that at either of you." He took a deep breath and continued. "Do not apologize for what is not your fault. No one can help what has happened recently."

 

[Saiyan Princess]

"But, your drinking was my idea, Erik." Meg argued. "You weren't in your right mind because of my asking you to celebrate with us." She poked her little blonde head out from behind Madame Giry. "I do not fear you or anything else other than people that I care about getting hurt." She smiled thinly. "Now, we can move on, be a family, and keep all weapons away from you." She giggled to herself. "Meg is correct. Turn over all weapons, Erik." Her mother ordered, holding out her hand.

 

[Guile]

Erik stared up at them from where he lay on the sofa, looking rather helpless. "I can't give you my weapons! What if someone comes after me and I need them? Wandering around defenseless with this face is a good way to get myself killed!" He tried making up excuses to let them keep them, but after a while he realized that Madame Giry was not going to give in. "Oh, alright..." Erik sighed, pulling a gun from inside his coat and a knife from his side and handing them to her, looking rather defeated.

 

[Saiyan Princess]

"Keep the knife." Madame Giry ordered him. "You need something to protect you." She took the gun from his right hand and pointed it to the ground. "Honestly, there is no need for such weapons." She unloaded the gun and put it, safely, into a box. "There. Keep the knife for yourself, but..." she got in his face. "If I ever find you in this state again, you'll have to answer to me." It was then that she backed off. "Now, you will rest here whilst Meg and I go to rehearsal." Before he could object, they left him.

 

[Guile]

Erik returned the knife to its proper spot along his side, feeling slightly more comfortable that he had something to protect himself with. He found that he didn't very much like it when Madame Giry threatened him and he scowled at her as she got in his face, still he said nothing. She's only looking out for me. He reminded himself even though her order to stay put and rest made him even more agitated. "I am not a child." He growled to himself under his breath after they had left and yet, there he stayed. As much as he didn't want to admit it, his friend was right. He needed rest, so he laid his head back and closed his eyes. Still, he did not sleep. He never felt comfortable sleeping in strange places. He felt vulnerable.

 

[Saiyan Princess]

Again, Meg went to her rehearsal, and again, Christine returned, this time she was very much alone, with baby resting against her shoulder. "Now, now, Gustav, it's alright. I'll play your music box all night tonight if only you'll allow me to go to my rehearsal today. Daddy will be alright. He's at home." She cooed, kissing her son on the cheek. "Mister Y!" She spotted the man on the couch. "You remember Mister Y, don't you, Gustav?" Christine laid the baby on his birth father's chest.

 

[Guile]

Erik's eyes shot open excitedly as soon as he heard Christine's voice. He pushed himself up on his elbows just a little as she came over, looking at her as if he couldn't believe she was there. "Christine." Before Erik could say anymore, Gustav was being placed on his chest. He smiled down at the child and placed a hand on Gustav's back, simply to stabilize him. Erik didn't want him falling at all. "Hello again, Gustav." He cooed to his son with a smile on his lips before looking up at Christine again. "The same goes to you, Christine. I didn't think I would get the chance to see either of you again."

 

[Saiyan Princess]

"I am glad to see you as well, Erik." Christine smiled and watched as her son tried to pull himself up toward his father. "I'm glad that we have this child, Erik, which is why I'm glad that you're such a good friend to me." She rubbed her son's back for a moment before a woman emerged. "Five minutes, Madame de Chagney." The woman left again. "I must return to my rehearsal, Erik." She bent down to kiss Gustav's little head. "Mummy loves you, but you must stay with Mister Y. I will be back quite soon, my love." She left.the two to bond while she flew to the stage to blow her performance out of the water.

 

[Guile]

"I am just as glad, Christine." Erik admitted, smiling down at their son trying to pull himself up toward him. "You need never doubt that I care for you and Gustav with all that I am." It was then that a woman came in and alerted Christine to the time before she needed to be on stage. "Of course, Christine." Erik confirmed, realized she could not be late. Still, his heart began to race with panic as soon as she was gone. He had never been left alone with Gustav before. "Well...uh...I suppose we'll just wait until Mommy comes back then, huh?" Erik stuttered awkwardly to his son, knowing that he couldn't understand him.

 

[Saiyan Princess]

Gustav merely looked up at the masked man with the cutest laugh ever. When he was done, he laid his head down again and drooled down Mister Y's shirt, unable to stop. He kicked his feet. Christine, on the other hand, was too busy with her own rehearsal in order to be of any help when Raoul came in. Fortunately, he was far too inebriated to recognize his own son. "Christine." He slurred his speech.

 

[Guile]

Erik couldn't help laughing when he heard his son's own laugh. It was far too precious not to put a smile on his face! Though when the drooling began, Erik quickly sat up with the child in his arms and reached for a rag to wipe the front of his shirt with. With a slightly disgusted face, Erik wiped the last bit of drool from Gustav's mouth and chuckled. "There, you are clean. I should prefer it if you keep your bodily fluids under control." With a smile at his own joke, Erik ran his free hand over Gustav's head, through what little hair he had. It was then that Raoul walked in and Erik's heart stopped in his chest. He heard Christine's name escape from the man's lips and realized his speech was slurred. This only made Erik feel slightly better, and slightly worse. There is a chance he won't recognize me now. Unfortunately, there's also the chance that he will and become violent. "Christine is rehearsing." Erik said flatly, hating that he had to be in the presence of this man.