The Parts We Play

The Strange Affair of The Phantom of the Opera

Krel Tarron had come to quite enjoy having friends. Claire would often be genuinely intrigued by his projects, and Douxie had an inventive streak of his own after so many centuries of watching Earth's technology develop, not to mention a massive mental catalog of music that Krel regularly sampled from.

Perhaps even more enjoyable than this, however, was the fact he could work on his projects somewhere comfortable while his friends chatted and laughed around him, nearby but not usually encroaching unless one wanted a closer look at something he was doing. It was incredibly pleasant.

Tonight, Jim was cooking in the Mothership's kitchen while Claire, Douxie, Toby, Darci, Steve, and Mary all chatted in a large, loose circle, consisting of the couches, a couple chairs, and some large bean bags the Trollhunters had gifted to Krel. He sat in the corner of the sectional, listening intently- he liked having an extra task or two for his mind to work on while he tinkered, and conversation in the background was quite suitable at the moment.

"I swear this always happens," Claire was complaining. "You can't get boys to audition for plays to save their lives, I'm pretty sure."

"Unless they're trying to impress girls," Toby nodded.

"Hey now, that's not true!" Jim called out. "Sometimes we're trying to cover up why we're wearing full plate armor in a school locker room."

Everyone chuckled at that, and Douxie sighed afterwards.

"Not to mention finding boys who can act, sing, and dance," he said, rubbing his neck- he was supervising choreography. It turned out his age had also made him the perfect candidate to teach the cast period-accurate dance. "Maybe Phantom of the Opera was an ambitious choice to show off Arcadia's new theater..."

"What is 'Phantom of the Opera'?" Krel piped up. Though his knowledge of Earth had expanded greatly in the past few years, he still lacked many of the common or cultural details his friends had been raised with.

"It's a really well known Broadway musical," Darci explained, and Krel nodded a bit in thanks.

Turning to Claire, Darci added, "Let me guess, you can't get anyone for Raoul?"

Claire sighed and flopped her head back. "We've got Phantom, we've got Christine-"

"Oh, they cast someone for Christine? When?" Douxie sat up.

"Yesterday, I guess you hadn't heard," Claire said. "Someone named Cara Williams. It's her first time acting, but apparently she's a huge Phantom nerd."

"Well, at least she'll know her parts," Douxie noted. "Toby, Mary, you're our publicity team, how do you think we could get some Raoul auditions going?"

"Raoul's part is basic enough there's just no interest," Mary said.

"His connections don't compel people, you know? Not like the messed-up stuff between Christine and the Phantom," Toby said.

Krel blinked. "That's ridiculous," he interjected. "Focusing entirely on unhealthy dynamics sounds like a very tiring story."

Claire blinked, then looked at Toby, and they both looked at Krel. "Well, the story is kind of about that," Claire explained. "It's about this girl named Christine who lives in an opera house and trains as a ballerina, and as she grows up, she believes the spirit of her deceased father has been training her to sing, when in actuality it's been the Phantom of the Opera, who lives underneath the place and knows all the ins and outs of the building.

"He's trained her until she's almost entirely under his control, and she thinks this voice she hears is some amazing blessing. And then the management of the opera house changes, and these new managers don't comply with the Phantom's demands, and things just start getting- messy. And of course it doesn't help that Raoul comes in as the new patron of the opera house."