Phantasy [HIATUS]

The Phantom Lives

It had been 5 years since the Phantom of the Opera last appeared. Many thought he was dead, others thought that maybe he still lives beneath the Opera Populaire. She was one of the others, and she wished to see him. Vanessa had known the "Phantom" since she was very young, and she wanted to make sure that he had still been alive, and at least...some-what healthy. She had wanted to speak with him for many years, but found her self hiding away in London for what seemed like an eternity. It's not as if she had wanted to stay there, but she didn't have a choice. She had hid herself under a very large cloak in order to draw less attention to the mask on her face. And since it was during the night in mid-winter, no one who saw her even had a second thought about it. That is, if they even had a first thought. 

Anyway, she had finally made it to the front steps of the burnt down Opera Populaire. She remembered when her parents would bring her here when they had finished performing. She had missed them, and sometimes regret what she had done to them. But they were gone now, it had been done, and she had to move on. She hesitantly opened the door and stepped in, walking up the dozens of stairs all the way to her favorite place in that entire building. And all she could say when she stepped in was that although the theater may have faded away, the magic within it didn't. She felt as though her parents were there with her, making her tear up a bit. She breathed in deeply, and started walking towards the stage. She had never known what it was like to be up here and sing for the massive audiences that would come in to watch the big performance. 

As she was looking among the debris from the very last show on this stage, she found a sheet of music. The title read 'Past the Point of No Return', as she looked at the music she absolutely fell in love with the song. Whoever the composer was of this piece, was incredibly talented. As she continued looking around the stage, she started humming the tune of that song. Then soon found herself turning that humming, into singing.

"Past the point of no return
No backward glances
The games we've played till now are at an end
Past all thought of if or when
No use resisting
Abandon thought and let the dream descend
What raging fire shall flood the soul?
What rich desire unlocks its door?
What sweet seduction lies before us
Past the point of no return
The final threshold?
What warm, unspoken secrets will we learn
Beyond the point of no return?"

She started to slowly walk up the spiral staircase as she continued singing the rest of the song.

"Past the point of no return
The final threshold
The bridge is crossed, so stand and watch it burn
We've passed the point of no return"

As she finished she saw as it appeared a lever had been switched to drop out the middle of the bridge. She walked over to where the floor had dropped and looked down, it led down to somewhere underneath the opera. "The perfect place for a 'phantom' to hide." She thought to herself. She grabbed some rope from the railing, hung it up and made sure that it was still sturdy enough to hold her. In all honesty, she didn't really trust it, but it only had to hold her for a few seconds so she could get down there. She tied one end to one of beams on the bridge and let the rope fall. It was just barely long enough, but it would get her down there. She took a deep breath and held the rope, jumping from the edge and falling deep underneath the stage. Once she reached the bottom she leaned against the wall for a moment, regaining her breath after the long fall. Once she was settled, she made her way down the stairs that had awaited her. 

She continued until she had lost her way, in between an intersection. She figured he must've known that place like the back of his hand, and he had always loved music, always clinking the cymbals on the stuffed monkey he carried as a child. So she sang to him, "Sing to me, Angel of Music." As she feared, she got no response. "Erik!" She cried. "Please, I need to know if you're still down here." She tried again, "Sing to me, Angel of Music." No response. She thought the worst, could he be...No. She was going to find him, he had to be down here. She could feel his presence, as if he was listening to every word. "Erik!", she tried yelling to him again. Only to again be left with no response, so she sang one last time. "Sing to me, Angel of Music."

There was a moment of silence. And as she was turning around to leave she could hear it, she could hear him. "I am your Angel of Music."

Vanessa gave a relieved sigh, then sang back to him. "Sing for me, Angel of Music." And he did just that. They both kept on singing while Vanessa had followed his voice all the way to where he was hiding. She saw him standing on the steps that came from the water, as he looked at her with pure confusion. Which didn't surprise her, it had been so long ago since the last time they saw each other. But neither had changed, not really. He walked towards her, into the water as she did the same

"I am your Angel of Music? " He sang as more of a question, continuing to walk towards her. 

She smile and nodded as she kept going towards him and sang, "You are my Angel of Music." When they were close enough to each other, Erik held Vanessa's face in his hands. As he somehow knew who she was, but didn't think it was really her. Her mask probably didn't help him much, but from what he could see, it had to have been her.

"Vanessa?" She nodded. 

He looked at her in disbelief, then brought her into a hug. "It's been so long."

She hugged him back. "I know."

He broke the hug and looked at her again, still not fully believing what he was seeing. "Why are you here? If you don't mind me asking."

She took a deep breath and told him, "I wanted to make sure that you were still alive. After I heard about that awful fire here, I was worried. And I know it's been 5 years now since that happened, and I would've come a lot sooner it's just..." She stopped and put her hand on his arm. "Never mind. None of that matters now, because now I know that you're alive and you're safe." She smiled up at him.

Erik's smile faded back into a confused look, "I don't remember you ever wearing a mask."

Vanessa looked down. "After you left, a lot of things...changed, for me." He gave her a sad look, but she just put a smile on her face and hugged him again. "I've missed you, Erik." 

Hearing his name after so long sent a shiver up his spine, especially hearing it from her. He then put his arms around her and whispered back, "I've missed you too."