The Man Clad in Black (Phantom of the Opera)

Boat Rides and Fencing - Chapter 17

You managed to slip back into the theatre and watch the last bit of the opera, although yet again, you found yourself unable to concentrate... while your mind would often drift back to your father, it would also drift back to Erik as well. You were focused on everything except for the opera.

You were exhausted once the show was over. It was quite late, and you already had a lot on your mind... Matthew had kept true to his word and stopped by to meet with you at the end of the show (as did a couple of other employees), although you kept the conversation cut short. You really just wished to go to sleep...

However, when you realized that you still wore Erik's cloak upon your shoulders, you cursed to yourself.

You had to return it.

That must have been why Matthew had been staring at you a little unusually - it was clearly a man's cloak, and you really didn't want to raise anymore suspicion by still having it tomorrow morning.

You let out a groan as you folded the cloak up in your hands, draping it over your arm as you hurried to get it back to Erik.

As you wove through the countless catacombs to get to where you knew Erik would be, you finally found yourself approaching the boat (which had thankfully been left there this time).

As you rowed down the lake, you couldn't help but think to yourself what you would say to him if he was there... what was there to say? After all, you weren't nearly as mad at him as you were before - the slap across his face was enough.

This time, you didn't fall out of the boat - you were able to make it to the shore and step out of it, managing to only get your ankles wet.

Erik was nowhere to be seen.

Internally, you let out a sigh of relief... at least you didn't have to think about what to say anymore.

However, it was still a little unusual.

You looked around for a place to set his cloak. Eventually, you decided upon his desk - despite the fact that there were plenty of papers scattered across it, it would be off of the floor and wouldn't get ruined.

As you carefully rested the cloak upon his desk, you couldn't help but notice that he had just rested his - or at least, a rapier - upon it... you were confused.

Before you could think anything else, however, you heard Erik's voice.

"Pick it up, [Y/N]," he said. "You should learn how to use it."

You glanced back at the man, and as you gently grabbed the weapon from his desk, you couldn't help but shoot him a confused glance.

"Monsieur?" you blinked. As you picked up the rapier, noticing it's quite delicate design, you couldn't help but balance it in your hands for a moment. You were already quite used to it... after all, you were quite the talented swords-woman.

That, however, didn't mean you were ready to fight.

It had been nearly a year since you last used one of these. You barely managed to sneak into any of the fencing competitions, and even though you used to win almost every time, that was so long ago... You weren't sure if you still had all of your talent.

"Why?" you asked softly, turning your gaze back to Erik.

"Speaking to you began to make me think..." he started. You soon realized that, in his own hands, he held quite a similar rapier. He was going to fight you. "While I never intended to harm you, I'm sure that there may be someone who will... so I would like to prepare you."