An Opera in Chaos

Chapter 5

     Over the next few months, Christine and Erik worked on strength, durability, fighting skills, and a new aria that Erik had wrote. Christine couldn't complain about her new living conditions: she had her own room, plenty of food, and her daily lessons in singing and fighting. At first, she feared she would not like the fighting very much, but as the days rolled on, she grew to enjoy sparring with Erik daily. She was getting better with each day, even beating Erik on her very best days. She couldn't help but now picture herself as Erik had portrayed her in his drawings: a warrior princess.

One day, though, she feared it would all end.

She and Erik were sparring as usual; their swords clashing so hard at times, sparks would fly.

"You're getting good." Erik commented.

"I learn from the best." was Christine's reply.

As they went on, Erik stripped Christine of her sword and had her pinned to the ground. "Give."

She sighed. "Alright, fine, I give. I very well can't don't do anything with you on top of me, can I?"

They were laughing when all of the sudden they heard a splash coming from the lake. They looked over to discover that it was Raoul.

"Raoul, what are you doing here?" Christine demanded.

He was panting from his journey. "Saving you...f-from this beast!" he exclaimed.

Erik growled low in his throat and was about to reply when Christine cut him off. "Erik, let me handle this. Remember what you always say: emotion is always good in a fight but sometimes it is an unnecessary trait. You're too emotional at the moment. Let me handle Raoul."

He hesitated for a moment, giving Raoul a death glare, before finally nodding at Christine and walked into his room. As he shut his door, Christine walked over to Raoul and slapped him: hard. "How dare you call him a beast?! He is nothing of the sort! What did he ever do to you, anyways?"

"He took you away and held you captive down here for months, Christine: that's what he did!"

Christine rolled her eyes. "You really are an idiot, aren't you? I have had plenty of opportunities to go back up there, but I never took them. Do you want to know why, Raoul? I like it down here! Besides, you couldn't have been too worried about me to come down here a few months after I went missing. Now, if I were your hair, that would be a different story entirely, now wouldn't it?" she asked, casually flicking his hair off of his shoulder.

He flinched away, instantly smoothing his hair down. "Hey, easy with the hair. I just had it redone yesterday."

"Let's face it: I'm fine down here and in absolutely no need of rescue. So why don't you just go back up and mess with your stupid hair some more."

Raoul gasped in shock and started to gently pet his hair. "Oh, she didn't mean it. You are not stupid, you are absolutely perfect." He said to it.

Christine was starting to get irritated. "Go, Raoul."

He shook his head. "No, I'm not leaving without you."

"I believe the mademoiselle told you to leave," a deep voice boomed, intervening in their argument. Christine turned to find Erik with his sword in his hand. "I agree wholeheartedly."

She heard Raoul draw his own sword. "Make me."

Erik came at him, his sword at the ready. They fought hard, matching each other in strength, but not in skill. Erik spun around Raoul and his blade met Raoul's arm, earning a yelp of pain from Raoul.

"First blood, I win."

Raoul charged at Erik, a roar of fury escaping his throat. He did nothing but succeed in falling further into Erik's trap. At the absolute perfect time, Erik grabbed Raoul from behind and put his sword to his throat. "Give?"

"Never!" Raoul snarled.

"Oh, well that's too bad. What a shame that such perfect hair will soon be mutilated by my sword-"

"Give! I surrender!" Raoul interrupted, almost crying. "Just please don't mess up my hair!"

Erik huffed. "Alright, your hair is safe for another day. Now go back up to where you belong, Vicomte." He said, releasing Raoul and giving him a rather rough shove.

"You're all crazy! Everyone in this place is absolutely mad!" Raoul shrieked as he stormed towards the lake.

"You speak of madness?" Erik asked, effectively stopping Raoul in his tracks. He slowly made his way down to where Raoul stood. "Of course it is madness." He was right behind him. "This...is...OPERA!" he shouted as he turned Raoul to face him then kicked him into the lake.

Christine gasped. "Erik, was that really necessary?"

Erik shrugged. "Would you rather him be strung up by the Punjab lasso?"

"I guess not."

"Then yes, by all means, it was necessary."

Christine laughed. "Alright, if you say so."

They went back to sparring, and in the very end, Christine won.