Christine's head was spinning. She had just finished her debut as Lead Soprano and although the crowed and cheered, whistled, and tossed roses at her, she was still feeling nervous. She still had yet to hear from the one critic who mattered the most - The Angel of Music. She made sure that the door was locked, after everyone had congratulated her.. She didn't want any interruptions while she spoke to her Angel. Normally she'd visit the cathedral to do so, but she had a feeling that he'd be able to hear her..wherever she may be. 

"Angel," she called to him softly. "I hope I did well tonight. I would not be here if it weren't for you." She thought briefly of her father. It was because of him that the angel was sent to her in the first place...he fulfilled the promise he had  made to her, and now she was the Prima Diva.. but she wouldn't let it go to her head. Not like Carlotta. "If you can hear my words.. could you grace me with some sort of sign? Speak to  me, Angel..." 

All of his work, all of his careful coaching and nudging had finally paid off, and my how it had paid off. Christine had proven himself, her father, and even herself proud through the way that she had performed. While Erik had worried, at first, that she had been put a little too much on the spot, she had risen above and beyond the occasion, proving wrong all who scoffed at the little no-name chorus girl who had to fill in the soprano's place.

After the aria, when she graciously took the stupendous amounts of applause, Erik had slipped away from the stage through his secret tunnels and eventually wound up just outside the mirrored passageway from the Lead Soprano's dressing room to his underground lair. There he waited, and waited, until he heard Christine on the other side of the mirror. He snuffed out the candle he had been using to read in the passage, and once it was dark he was able to see her clearly.

As it was with every time he saw her, her beauty took his breath away, but he composed himself quickly as she began to speak. He listened quietly to her words, heart stinging a little at the rouse she still believed, but it was far better this way. "You have done very well, my child." He threw his voice effortlessly, causing it to ricochet off of the walls in her dressing room. "I am incredibly proud of you."

Christine was relieved to hear the voice that she'd been hearing for years now. She'd hoped that she hadn't upset him with her performance, and she was pleasantly graced with not only him answering her, but telling her that she had made him proud. She rose from her seat, and allowed her eyes to roam around the room, as if she'd spot him in a corner if she circled it enough. "Angel, when will you show yourself? Will I ever lay eyes on the face that has taught me so much?" She had suspected that the only one who'd ever seen him was her father, perhaps while he was dying. 

She hadn't ever thought that the Phantom that 'haunted' the Opera house could be one in the same as her angel.. it was too impossible to ever guess. If it was the case, surely Madame Giry would have told her about it sooner. "I promise, angel.. this will be the last time I'll ask. If you decline my request, I'll hold my tongue, and simply continue learning anything else you can teach me."

Oh, he longed to step through the mirror right then and reveal himself to her. However he decided that it was still not the time. She would know immediately that he was not her supposed Angel and just a very lonely, very mortal man, and yet; he sighed and placed a gloved hand on the back of her mirror, knowing that she would not see him unless he slid the mirror over.

"My child, you truly do not wish to see me, for in doing so it would shatter everything I have worked so hard to cultivate in you." This was partly true. If she saw his darkness it would corrupt her. "It is not the time for face to face quite yet." His mind was screaming at him, telling him to take back what he had said. "The time will eventually come."

Christine felt slightly deflated. She knew though, deep down that she shouldn't argue, and so she decided not to. She could have said that nothing would be shattered, she could have begged and pleaded, but it would only make her seem desperate - and she didn't want to hold that image, not after making him so proud. "I will trust your judgement, angel," she spoke in a tone of voice that dripped with disappointment. "I'll hold to my promise, and not ask again." She turned to face the mirror, deciding that if she couldn't see a face to talk to, she'd speak to her own reflection. 

"I sometimes wonder if I'm really speaking to myself.. that i'm under some sort of delusion." She lifted a hand, and lightly touched the mirror, as though she were comforting herself. "But whether or not it's true, Angel.. I'm going to continue to believe that you're real." 

He was about to respond to her, as she sounded so disappointed, but then she approached the mirror, and placed her hand directly opposite his. He jumped back only slightly, almost like a flench and looked out at her. He couldn't tell if she could see him or not, but technically speaking she should not be able to see him.

He placed his hand back on the mirror gently and sighed. He longed to push the mirror aside, to take her down to his underworld, where no one was able to judge him, but he could not just yet. "I am real child." He was projecting his voice again. "Remember what I told you when I first appeared. Your papa came to me in heaven child, and sent me down to watch over you."

Christine's smile had returned. It was genuine, and her disappointment seemed - at least mostly - washed away. "I believe you, Angel. I've always believed you." Of course she had no idea that he was standing right on the other side of the mirror..their hands separated only by the glass. "I was wrong to question you." She lowered her eyes to the ground for a moment, and took her hand away. "Perhaps I should go visit my father's grave.. to tell him of the performance tonight. I think he'd like to know.." It was late, though..and going out at this hour would surely be a horrible idea. "Tomorrow." But for now, it was time for her to change in to her evening wear, and go back to her sleeping quarters. 

"If tonight was not the night, then perhaps another time, Angel..you will be able to reveal yourself." Perhaps it was her father the entire time.. or maybe he was something all together. Some would likely try to say he was a demon, but she knew the truth.. he was wonderful, and his voice was beautiful..and he'd made her what she was.

Erik was mentally cursing himself. He should have opened the passage and stolen her away, but for some reason he could not bring himself to do that. He could almost feel the absence of her warm hand on the glass near his, and he let out a small sigh as he brought his hand to his side once more. He watched her carefully, longing to join her in her world of light.

"Perhaps tonight can be the night after all." He murmured, not quite knowing where this little speech was coming from. "You have done wonderfully my child, and if you truly wish to see my face then I will allow it, as you have exceeded my expectations for you, even though my expectations were set incredibly high."

Christine was about to leave the room to put on her robe before going to the sleeping quarters, having all intentions on cooing about the performance to Meg Giry in to the wee hours of the night.. but her angel spoke to her once more, and she listened. She took her hand away from the door handle, and she allowed her eyes to roam the room once more, desperately searching for the source of the voice. He spoke of how perhaps he would show himself to her. 

Suddenly she felt a rush of nervousness hitting her. Even more than she had before performing her very first aria in front of a filled opera house. The corners of her lips twitched, and pulled in to a smile. "Are you sure, Angel? Please, I do not wish to change your mind it's just that.. I've been waiting for so long.." She was happy that she at least had changed out of her giant ball gown and in to something a little thinner, otherwise the tightness of the corset mixed with her sudden nerves would have made her faint on the spot. 

Erik cocked a small smile behind his mask. He could see that she was nervous, she always held herself that way when she was nervous. Erik replaced his hand on the glass that separated them. If he was going to do this, he would have to work quickly, as otherwise his nerves would take over, and they would have to wait for another night.

"You have not changed my mind child, you are right. It is high time." He shifted behind the mirror and moved to one of the alcoves he had in the tunnel, after mixing a few things together he had created the illusion of billowing smoke, and he returned to the mirror, knowing that it would spill into the dressing room once the barrier was removed. "Look to the mirror child."

Christine had to keep telling herself to breathe. She rested her hand over her stomach to remind herself that she needed air, or else she would surely faint. She hadn't expected him to agree to let her see him.. She'd been asking for years, and every time it was always the same thing. One day.. Not now.. he never said yes. So, naturally the moment he did, she was terrified. What if she became star struck by her mentor and lost the ability to speak? What if she said the wrong thing? Would he look like an angel? Would he look like her father? So many thoughts raced through her mind until he spoke to her once more. He told her to look in to the mirror. 

She'd always listened to his every instruction without question, as he had told her to in the beginning.. so she did the same this time. Without hesitation, she strode slowly toward the mirror, and she looked in to it. "Are.." she started, speaking in a soft voice. "Are you in there, my angel?"

Erik watched her carefully, noticing that she was obviously nervous, or terrified. He would deal with that in a moment. He watched her creep ever closer and he closed his eyes breathing a little unsteadily before opening his eyes again. He slid the mirror ever so slowly, so that his crafted smoke could billow into her dressing room.

"I am here child." He murmured softly, watching as the mirror peeled back ever so slowly, until it was finally out of the way, and the barrier that had separated them was no more.

Christine glanced toward her feet when she noticed the smoke that was billowing out from the mirror. It only distracted her briefly until his voice caught her attention. It was as though he just appeared through the mirror..she was no longer staring at her own reflection, but that of a man in a mask. She inhaled a sharp breath, and she took a step closer. "It's really you," she whispered in disbelief. She reached out to touch him, but she made no attempts to touch his mask. She was merely reaching out for him. 

"You really do exist..." Of course she had believed him when he had told her he was real..but there was something about him being there, in her room, seeing him in solid tangible form that made her feel a rush of emotions. She felt as though she were hypnotized by him.. entranced..enthralled..

Erik sidestepped her easily. It was not time yet for that, not nearly time yet. He smirked slightly at her exclamation. "Of course I exist." He could tell that she was starting to enter a trance-like state, which would make it very easy for him to simply capture her and move her down to his lair. She could live with him there, easily, with no distractions. "Did you doubt my existence that much?"

Christine was entranced by his beauty. There was something ethereal about him that proved to her that he absolutely had to be some sort of angel. Not to mention, he must have had magic, to be able to appear so quickly. When he moved away from her touch, she rested her hand at her side, and held both of her hands behind her back to keep herself from trying to touch him again. "No," she gasped. "I just... I've known you for so long..it's just so strange to see you in person.." Her voice held a dreamy sort of tone as she gazed in to his eyes beyond the mask. 

What lied behind it? Was it merely for mystery? She was far too entranced to care. "It's hard to believe i'm able to finally see the man behind the voice." He had such breath taking eyes.