No such thing as the Angel of Music (King)

[Christine Daaé]

Christine had been going about the manor in a paranoid state after her last couple of encounters. It seemed that there was no longer any place in this wretched manor that was truly safe. She wanted nothing more than for herself and Raoul to leave this place forever and find somewhere where they could be safe from Érik and from all of the other horrors of this manor. Horrid, blood-thirsty men; men who lived with the rats; odd voices and sensations she could not explain... All she wanted was to go home!

She didn't even feel safe staying in her own room here any more – not after what happened the last time she was there alone. It was not like Christine to be so jumpy all of the time. No, the last time it had been this bad was just after she had lost the plain gold ring which Érik had given to her. Now, however, she was almost afraid to be anywhere in the manor on her own any more.

Raoul had gone off to the nearby village to see if there was a way he could arrange passage for them to leave this place. They both desired nothing more than to finally be free where they could marry and would not have to share their happiness with a world that seemed to find it wrong. She certainly hoped that he was all right without her while searching.

Christine was continuing her paranoid roaming of the manor (for she was almost afraid to stay in any given place for too long) when she came across a site she had never seen before: a pair of very tall wooden doors, left slightly ajar, in an area where she had never been before and where she had not noticed that she'd wandered to.

With extreme caution, she peeked through the cracked door and slipped silently into the room, looking about. It was rather ill-lit and she could no see very well, which made her nervous to say the least. She ventured a few steps inside of the place. From what she could make out, it looked like an old throne room of sorts – though very old indeed. The place was an utter mess and looked as if it hadn't been used in a few hundred years. The heels of her shoes clapped softly along the marble floors as she stepped – the only sound in that dreadfully silent stillness, echoing and resonating throughout the entire chamber.

It was much colder here than in the other parts of the manor and she shivered as she continued, glancing around at the decrepit room surrounding her. She clutched the scarf she was wearing. She wasn't sure how, but her scarf -- the same scarf that she had from when she was a child, the same one that her beloved fiancé had rescued from the sea so many years ago -- had appeared in her room, and she had since been carrying it around as a security blanket since.

[King William Leverich II]

He hadn't been well, recently, in terms of his strength as a ghost. Perhaps is was just the shocking realisation that they hated him, cursed his name for bringing them here, and that was what was getting him down. But he'd not even had energy enough to keep a broom from slipping from his hands to clean the room and he while he didn't mind a bit of disorder, he didn't like blatant dirt and mess. He saved his energy to be able to do things like open doors properly so as not to scare people and eat and drink, because it was uncomfortable not to (even if he wasn't even hungry). So he was opaque, and his feet brushed through the floor slightly, dust floating through them. It made him look more ghostlike than he liked.

He hated feeling like he was actually dead.

It was generally quiet in his room, the one he shared with the other ghosts but he was in control of. It was dirty, but rats did not run. The air was naturally cold, as there were few, small windows and ghosts general brought an uncomfortable coldness with them. When he was stronger, he was able to control that better - warm the air more correctly like a human - but he was far form that now. At the moment, all the other ghosts were out, and so it with the quiet and stillness, he heard someone enter as soon as the door creaked in the slightest.

Will turned. A girl had come in; a young, petite thing, with pretty blue eyes and golden hair, walking into the room. The sound of her shoes hitting the cold floor resonated through the mostly empty room. His body didn't account for sound waves, no matter how strong he was. She wore late nineteenth century dress; Will could tell immediately that she was one of the characters. He sighed, for he had been avoiding them lately. All they seemed to want to do is go home, and he couldn't help there. It made him feel - rightfully - guilty.

He tried to conjure up a but of solidness into his body the best he could, and managed a little, but he was still obviously see through. He sighed before he stepped towards her, turning fully to face the girl and smiling. "Hello, miss, are you lost?" He asked kindly, his voice echoing just the tiniest bit around them.

[Christine Daaé]

((Sorry I couldn't get this done before you went offline Hope your time away was fun ))

Christine had been making an effort to walk normally despite her injury she had received from her close encounter with the faceless man., and had actually been managing quite well, all considered. She'd discovered that if she arched her foot a certain way in her show as she walked, it did not hurt nearly as much and she was able to manage walking without much of a limp at all. Granted, with how much walking she had been doing since that morning, there were moments where she would have to stop merely out of fatigue. Thankfully though it had not come that far recently.

She heard a gentle voice – a man's voice – and turned, squinting a little to see a seemingly transparent man standing there in the semi-darkness. Transparent? She rubbed her eyes a little. She must just have been tired from the evening before. That was it...

“No, not lost, Monsieur.... Just exploring... I'm sorry; should I not be in here? I can leave if it's a problem...”

[King William Leverich II]

OOC: Not at all, don't sweat it! Thanks for the effort. I had a lovely time there.

The girl looked up at Will's voice - he noticed she was walking quite strangely on her foot, probably hurt herself someone, poor girl - and rubbed her eyes. Will kept his face staged in the weak smile he'd conjured up before; he knew the girl probably thought she was seeing things because of how he looked.

Thinking more about her, now, he thought, She's probably one of the Christines. He had no idea which one, but she sure looked like she fit the description. He wouldn't say anything in case he was wrong, and even if he was sure he thought it would have been rude to out and ask Are you Christine, but he kept the theory in his mind so that he could have some sort of likely personality to base his words on what she would want to hear.

“No, not lost, Monsieur," she said in her sweet voice. "Just exploring... I'm sorry; should I not be in here? I can leave if it's a problem...” She trailed off, sounding earnest, and Will was quick to shake his head gently.

"No no, it's not a problem, people just usually don't come in here," he said politely, and looked around at the room's thin layers of dust and dirt apologetically. "I'm sorry for the mess," he said, "I'm afraid I haven't been able to clean recently."

[Christine Daaé]

((Glad to hear it ^^ And You're welcome. BTW, since I know you're having to read a lot of the apps to post since you're not very familiar with POTO, thought I'd let you know that Christine's history in her app ends before the events of the novel and she was taken from the end of the novel, after Erik allowed her and Raoul to go free, but before the article was published in the Epoque to say that “Erik is dead.” So to her right now she is engaged to her Raoul. I wasn't sure whether or not Will would know that since he was partially responsible for bringing the characters from their respective stories. Actually, if you look in the “Gossip” section, there is a thread titled “Important Question for all Cannons” that tells where each cannon character was ripped from in their story, since not all of them give exactly where in the app.))

The girl stopped walking for a moment and glanced a bit around the dusty old room, ignoring a slight tickle in her lungs. She had always had a minor dust allergy, but luckily there wasn't too much of the stuff stirred up at the moment in order to cause her to have a coughing fit like she had a few weeks before in the library. The lighting, however, was making it a bit difficult for her to see...

“Oh, it is not a problem, really, Monsieur,” she said when the man apologized for the mess. “It's not too terribly bad. Besides, as you said, you were not expecting anyone to come in here... You work here then?” she asked with a slight tilt of the head.

She would still have liked to know where this place was, even if she and Raoul were leaving to go to the village soon. Perhaps it could save them some time as to figuring out how exactly to return to Paris from their current location.

“Do forgive me. I'm afraid I have not properly introduced myself. My name is Christine. Christine Daaé.” She managed a small smile as she rubbed her arm a bit, trying to warm up a little in this strangely cold place. The man's manners and air made her slightly less afraid and paranoid about being found by the faceless man again, or by Érik, but a tinge of that uneasy feeling still remained with her.

[King William Leverich II]

OOC: Thanks for the info; I've actually ordered the book so I can read it soon!

“Oh, it is not a problem, really, Monsieur,” the girl said kindly at his apology. "It's not too terribly bad. Besides, as you said, you were not expecting anyone to come in here... You work here then?"

"I'm afraid I live here in this castle. Though, don't worry, I don't sleep in this room," he added with a dark chuckle. Perhaps towards the fact that he didn't - couldn't - sleep at all, which was awful. Or maybe it was because his short laugh would've only been perceived as anything but light by anyone but one who truly knew him well. Marcus his brain supplied to him, and he told it to shut up.

"Do forgive me. I'm afraid I have not properly introduced myself. My name is Christine. Christine Daaé," she said politely, rubbing her arms to warm herself. Will felt bad for not being able to help her keep warm.

"William Leverich," Will returned the nicety with a weak smile, and then nodded over to a chair on the wall. On it sat a blanket that one of the characters had left on accident - and in fright of seeing a ghost - recently, so it was still clean of dust. He'd folded it neatly and kept it in case any other characters - like this Christine - came in, when he'd had more strength.

"I do apologize for the temperature in this room," Will said, "Please feel free to use that blanket. It's clean, I assure you, unlike the rest of this..." Will didn't like to be negative, really he didn't, but he couldn't help but finishing his short and apt description of the room as "...dump."

[Christine Daaé]

((Yay! It's a wonderful read ))

Christine tilted her head a bit when the man laughed. She was not quite sure what was so funny about what he had said. “I'm.... terribly sorry, Monsieur, but I am not quite sure that I understand. I would certainly hope that you didn't sleep here. It hardly seems fit for such, being so dusty and seeing as there is no bed...”

She looked over to the place where he had nodded and saw a blanket folded up and sitting on a chair there. She was very cold... Without much hesitation, the girl hurried over and plucked the blanket from where it rested, unfolding it and shaking it off a little before draping it around her shoulders.

“Thank you very much, Monsieur Leverich,” she said. “It is a pleasure meeting you. I am a bit curious though as to why this place seems so cold... This place being the manor in general. One would think it would get a little warm this time of year...”

[King William Leverich II]

Y O U W E A R T H E M A R O U N D L I K E Y O U ' R E

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M E A N D Y O U N E V E R S A Y H E Y O R R E M E M B E R M Y N A M E[/font]
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Christine seemed confused by his strangeness, and Will didn't blame her; he was acting a little unkept. Perhaps, somewhat crazy. Christine was no stranger to strange people (hah, how funny), but Will didn't mean to scare her, so he reminded himself to keep to manners.

She walked over to the chair and shook the blanket off before covering herself in it to warm herself. “Thank you very much, Monsieur Leverich. It is a pleasure meeting you," she said, and Will might have laughed again had it not been rude to do so; he was sure it was no pleasure meeting her and in the state he was today, he no doubt be frightened if he walked into a less shadowy area of the room. "I am a bit curious though as to why this place seems so cold... This place being the manor in general. One would think it would get a little warm this time of year…” Christine mused.

"Yes, one would think,"

[/b] Will agreed with her, though he knew perfectly well why it was cold. Ghosts did that. They made the area cold. He hated that; as if he weren't already too inhuman. "What I'm more curious about though, Miss, if I may ask -- what are you doing, exploring alone? Doesn't it frighten you?[/b] The castle was certainly warm and comfortable some parts, but others it was dark and creepy. Will got the chills being in some of the rooms himself. They were so… empty. Dead.
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[Christine Daaé]

Christine nestled herself a little in the blanket. She could not for the life of her figure out why it would be so cold this time of year. The floor and walls were made of stone, which she supposed would have kept it cooler since the sun was not shining inside, but there was no reason it should have been this cool...

What I'm more curious about though, Miss, if I may ask -- what are you doing, exploring alone? Doesn't it frighten you?

The girl shrank a little. “To be quite honest, Monsieur, that is the exact reason why I am exploring, though alone, not so much.... I'm afraid that if I stay in my room right now that someone will find me there... and my fiancé would never approve if he knew that I was not resting in bed... I'm sorry. All of this must sound terribly strange to you. I'm afraid it's a highly irregular situation...”

[King William Leverich II]

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Christine huddled, swathing herself in the blanket, cold. Will had half the mind to lead her out of the room, where she could warm up.

“To be quite honest, Monsieur, that is the exact reason why I am exploring, though alone, not so much.... I'm afraid that if I stay in my room right now that someone will find me there... and my fiancé would never approve if he knew that I was not resting in bed... I'm sorry. All of this must sound terribly strange to you. I'm afraid it's a highly irregular situation...”

Oh, he understood. He wouldn't tell her of course, but he understood far more of all of the characters' lives than he was meant to. In a way, having them in stories that they'd watched: cheered for, laughed for, loved; made them of so susceptible to their secrets. IN fact, any of their secrets, he knew! It made him guilty.

"Oh, don't worry about it,"

[/b] he said dismissively, his tone as free of guilt as possible. "I understand things must be hard for you, But - you must be cold. Would you like to go outside?" It was warmer in the outdoors, where the sun shone.

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[Christine Daaé]

“If you don't mind,” the girl said when the spectre of a man asked her if she would prefer to go outside. She managed a small smile as she looked at him. “Hopefully it will be a bit warmer there.” The weather had been rather mild recently, other than the occasional rain, though it did not seem to be raining that day.

I understand things must be hard for you

It was nice phrase to hear, really. There were no false promises of everything is going to be okay behind it... It acknowledged that it was a troubling situation and then changed the topic. It was better, after all, not to dwell upon such things. Sometimes it was better to acknowledge something to oneself and then go on pretending for a while like it wasn't there. In fact, she had become quite good at it.

She watched the man a moment to make sure he would follow (it was slightly reassuring to have someone it seemed she could trust nearby) and then began to step carefully and deliberately toward the door of the room so as not to further injure her foot.

“It cannot possibly be good for breathing in here,” she said as she walked. “With all of this dust, I mean... How ever do you manage?”

[King William Leverich II]

• • • • • • •

“If you don't mind. Hopefully it will be a bit warmer there," Christine admitted, looking grateful. Will smiled and followed her outside, and he felt like he was becoming a little more solid. He did love... interaction. Especially non-hostile interaction. He noticed she walked with a limp. “It cannot possibly be good for breathing in here. With all of this dust, I mean... How ever do you manage?”

"Oh... "

[/b] Will mused, trying not to be bitter as he said, "My health is very solid."[/b] He hadn't gotten ill in centuries, after all. He was a bit unchanging, except for his mind. Could someone succumb to mental illness whilst dead? There were so many these days.

"Your leg,"[/b] Will commented, changing the subject, "What happened, may I ask? Are you alright?"[/b] It was easier to talk about other peoples' problems than his own, he found.

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[Christine Daaé]

Christine inhaled the warm breeze as they stepped outside. The air was slightly damp, as it had rained lightly earlier that morning. It had a delicious taste, really. She was quite fond of the outdoors.

William insisted that his health was very 'solid', which would explain why all of the dust didn't make him sick at all. “Oh... well, it is always a good thing, I suppose... that is, to not have to be too concerned about one's health.” Both her mother and father had previously died of illnesses, and she was mildly susceptible to becoming sick as well, though she took steps to try to ensure she could keep up her immune system to prevent it.

And then Will asked about her leg. “It's... my foot, actually,” she admitted. “I cut it not very long ago, while I was running...” and then she paled. He had asked if she were 'all right'... “....Yes” she finally said, after some hesitation. “... and no.... I'm... I'm sorry. It's difficult for me to explain... Have you ever.... been more hurt in your mind than in your body?”

[King William Leverich II]

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“Oh... well, it is always a good thing, I suppose... that is, to not have to be too concerned about one's health,” he listened to Christine explain.

”’Tis,” he agreed dully, distracting himself with looking at the scenery they were entering. It was rather beautiful.

He asked about her limp and recieved a deaper answer than he’d expected.“...Yes... and no.... I'm... I'm sorry. It's difficult for me to explain... Have you ever.... been more hurt in your mind than in your body?”

He grimaced, ”I am afraid that I understand entirely what you mean, Miss Christine.” He took a chance - a lucky one - and patted her lightly on the shoulder. He understood the movement wasn’t completely appropriate given the century Christine was coming out of, but she would have to get used to it, and the pat was meant to be comforting, hardly intimate. ”But I’m sure better things are to come.”

It’s what he’d been telling himself for years, centuries, really, to get by.

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[Christine Daaé]

Christine visibly tensed when William patted her shoulder lightly. It was a gesture which she wasn’t quite used to, and which felt a bit awkward to her, personally. She stared down at the floor, the expression on her face like one of a normally social person suddenly at a loss for words.

She looked back up, still with a similar expression, as he continued to speak to her. “I hope so…. Though at this point in time, I am not so certain…” She let out a sigh and closed her eyes. All she really wanted was a way that she and Raoul could return home.