Look with your Heart

Curiosity and Inquiries

Erik made his way to Lily's room, taking care to stay in the shadows. Once he entered, he looked around, seeing the painting of her and Meg. Examining it for a moment, he could see that she had captured the happiness in her eyes and smiled for a moment. Then, turning, he grabbed her white nightgown from her closet.

The man had gone to where Lily had fallen through and quickly covered the hole to be sure that no one else would fall through, before coming to her room.

He quickly found a small catch hidden in the closet, revealing another secret passage. Entering, he found himself in one of his less used passages. Erik followed the passage, cautiously avoiding his traps and making his way to the boat.

Erik carefully held the dress as he stood on the boat and began to cross the river. He stepped off of the boat and entered the lair, seeing Lily looking over his compositions.

As he approached, she looked up, shivering. Silently, Erik held out the nightgown and pointed to plain partition for her to change behind. Taking it, Lily scurried over, grateful to be out of her sopping wet clothes.

"Thank you for helping me, monsieur," she said quietly when she finished. Lily gave him back his cloak and he dipped his head. "If I may ask," Lily began. Immediately, the man stiffened, but Lily continued, "What is your name?"

Surprise was shown in his face when she asked. He paused and thought about it. "My name is Erik Destler," he finally told her, and she seemed rather pleased by this discovery.

Lily wandered back to his compositions, imagining it in her head. As an afterthought, she told him, "My name is Lillian Thomas, but everybody calls be Lily, unless I'm in trouble or they don't like me." Erik snorted softly at that.

Why hasn't she asked me about the mask yet? he wondered. Surely she is curious, unless she is planning to do what Christine did... His attention was pulled away as she began humming softly. Startled, he realized it was his own music, The Music of the Night.

Lily softly sang the last verse, "You alone can make my song take flight; Help me make the music of the night." Looking up, she told Erik, "It's a beautiful piece of music, Erik."

"Thank you," he said quietly. "Now, if I may ask you, why have you not asked about my mask?" Erik decided to be blunt, hoping that she would answer truthfully.

Lily seemed slightly startled, but responded, "I am curious about what is underneath, but I do not wish to invade your privacy. I know how that feels, so if you don't take off your mask, I understand."

Erik regarded her in confusion. Usually, most people always asked about why he wore his mask, not caring about his privacy, but Lily was different. "I'm sure you have some questions for me and I have questions for you, so we can take turns asking each other something," Erik finally said. 

They both took a seat across from each other, with Erik beginning. "How old are you?" he asked.

Lily sat there for a moment. It had been some time since she thought about her age, so she began thinking out loud. "I haven't thought about that recently, but I was born on April 7, 1857, and today, it's December 3, 1883, so that would mean I'm 26." 

She paused, glancing at him, then said, "I'm sorry, I don't usually think about this very often. Are you the famed phantom of the opera?"

"Yes, I am," Erik snorted. "Why are you not freaking out about me? Most people would be having a mental break down, or something."

Lily laughed softly, "I wouldn't believe everything that the newspapers hold. There was this one story about you, where you tried to wrestle a dragon, or something with your bare arms and ended up getting burnt." Erik stared at her in disbelief and she held her hands up. "Their words, not mine, monsieur. Do you plan on killing me?"

"Hmm... Let me think about that," Erik said mockingly. "Of course I'm not going to kill you! Would you like some tea?"

"That would be lovely, if you would please," Lily said politely. "Do you have any English Breakfast tea?" 

Erik nodded. "Yes, I do. Would you like sugar? I'm afraid I don't have any milk, as it is perishable and I only have dry foods." 

"3 lumps of sugar, please. Do you not live here anymore?" Lily wondered, gazing around at the cave. "I thought that you lived under the opera house, or have you moved to somewhere else?"

Erik began boiling the water, finding the tea bags and sugar which he kept down here, as it was non-perishable. "I had to move out and I have a place to stay, so I don't live here anymore. However, sometimes I'll come down here and compose and occasionally stay overnight. That's why I keep dry food down here." He poured the hot water into two cups, then put the tea bags in, bringing it over to the girl. "What is one of the worst things you ever experienced?"

Lily's eyes widened, then she looked down at her hands. "I would say either getting my scar," her hand instinctively lifted up and Erik gently grabbed her hand and brought it down, holding it. "That, or my mother," she shuddered. "I've had things said and done to me that no child ought to hear from their parents, or anyone for that matter." 

Erik squeezed her hand lightly and Lily gave him a sad smile. Releasing her hand, he brushed away a stray tear on the girl's face, then said, "I'm sorry, Lily. I've had that happen to me as well and I know what it is like."

"Don't be sorry," she murmured. "It wasn't your fault. How old are you?" She finally took a sip of her tea, then smiled with her eyes closed in bliss. "This reminds me of London," she sighed happily.

The man took a sip, then said, "I'm 32 years-old. I'm surprised, I was expecting you to be around Miss Giry's age, or Christine's age. Christine is 22."

"I'm three years older than Meg," Lily shrugged, then yawned, covering her mouth with one hand. "Pardon me," she blushed.

"You need to sleep, Lily. Come," Erik said firmly. He led Lily to the bed he had made for Christine, watching as she lay down carefully. Erik gently covered her with a thick blanket, humming quietly, so that she would fall asleep quicker.

Sure enough, Lily's eyes flickered shut and her breathing evened out, lips slightly parted. Erik leaned over and gently kissed the girl's forehead, then went back to his organ, feeling something he hadn't experienced since Christine, but this time, it was stronger. Dear God, he thought. What have I gotten myself into?  

He slowly fell asleep with dreams of a silver-eyed beauty drifting around, leaving him in one of the most peaceful slumbers he'd had for quite some time.