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Ascent to Power	By : Hot4Gerry Category: M through R > The Phantom of the Opera > Het Views: 5436 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own The Phantom of the Opera, nor any of the characters from it. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.

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Farewell to Paris and the Paris Opera House
Erik returned to the opera house one time before he severed all ties with his past in the opera house. He would bid farewell to the once proud edifice. In the bowels of that grand building he had made his own world. It had not reality down there in the dark but it had been his world. His alone. A creation solely from the images of his mind.
Walking up the steps it briefly crossed Erik’s mind that this would be the first time he had ever entered the opera house through the front doors and climbed the steps from the auditorium floor. All these years he had longed to walk through those doors just as the patrons of the opera house did. He had longed to sit and with others and enjoy the beauty of the performance without having to worry about discovery.
He struggled momentarily with the door. Finally it creaked open groaning in protest as he shoved it open with his shoulder. He opened it just enough to slip through. His eyes had no trouble adjusting to the light. Darkness to him was much the same as light. He could see almost as well in pitch black as he could on the sunniest days.
Erik wanted to wail out in protest when he saw the damage to his opera house. He looked sadly upon the devastation he had caused. The once beautiful auditorium now looked forlorn. Odd distortions met Erik’s eyes. Most of the seats were burned but oddly there were rows of perfectly preserved seats that looked as if they waited for the next performance to occupied by an eager opera house patron. Many of the wonderful statues adorning the wall had been all but destroyed and were completely unrecognizable while just a few feet away three perfectly preserved statues hung on the wall in all their majestic splendor. The outer walls still stood firmly in the same position they had held since the building had been built. The roof had damage but looked as if most had been saved.
The stage was still there but the scorched boards gave evidence of the recent fire. The chandelier still lay in the middle of the row of seats where it fell. Glass from the chandelier’s lamps cluttered the floor and made tinkling sounds as he stepped across the auditorium floor.
Erik hesitated at the stairs leading up to the stage. In all his years in the opera house he had never approached the stage from the auditorium. His mind raced with thoughts of his last night here. Memories of that night hit him in waves of sorrow and grief. All the pain returned. He closed his eyes willing the pain to go away. If he gave way now to his grief he would never leave this place again. It was past time to sever his ties if not his memories of this place. Inhaling deeply he walked up the steps and crossed to center stage. Memories of all the performances on this very stage haunted him. He welcomed them as well as feared them.
He allowed thoughts of that final night to enter his mind. He would allow himself this one memory and then get on with his business. All those feelings of that night rushed over him. Hope, love, anticipation, loss, grief and despair. So many emotions in such a short span of time. How easily a life could change in the span of a few hours.
He grew hard as the memory of Christine pressed against him returned. The intensity of his feelings had his hand wandering down to his aroused cock as it had many times when he thoungt of Christine or watched her in her daily life.
Not here. He would not pleasure himself in the place where he had been betrayed and exposed by the woman who held his heart in her careless hand. Grappling with his inclinations he managed to control his desires. It was not easy as he stood looking at the spot where he had stroked Christine with such intense desire. She had returned his desire. He had felt it in her body. Seen it in her eyes. She had wanted to have him in those few lust filled moments. She had been as hot and desperate for him as he had been for her.
Then she had torn away his mask leaving him truly naked in front of all of Paris.
Shaking off the useless remembrances he dropped down through one of the trap doors in the stage. Landing gracefully on his feet with slightly bent knees to cushion the impact he stood and began to walk down the corridor. Many twists and turns that would have the unsuspecting lost forever in the tunnels and caverns of the underbelly of the opera. Erik was at home here. He knew every brick and every crack. He had twenty years to become familiar with his underground home.
Coming to the lake he retrieved the spare boat he kept hidden in a secret compartment in one of the walls. His other one no doubt was left someplace outside his dark home at the end of a tunnel. Christine and Raoul would not be returning his boat.
He poled himself across the familiar waterway. Taking the correct path that lead to his home it only took a few minutes to arrive at his destinaton. Docking the boat at the edge of the landing to his home he nimbly hopped out. The sight that greeted him was no more than he expected. Almost everything was destroyed. His precious organ lay strewn across his lair in pieces. Christine’s swan bed had been dismantled and pieces of it now resided in the water.
Almost all the pictures of Christine had been torn down and scattered about his home. Hardly any of his elegant furniture remained intact. Fortunately for Erik he had hidden all his wealth in undetectable vaults behind the walls. Picking his way through the debris he quickly gathered his hidden wealth. He wanted to leave as soon as he finished. He had no wish to linger here where he had suffered so much. There were too many ghosts dwelling here.
Glancing down he saw one of his first drawings of Christine in the costume he had designed for her to wear in Don Juan Triumphant. God how beautiful she was that night. Erik bent down picking up the yellowed parchment.

Erik caught sight of one of his drawings of her in the gown she had worn when she had debuted singing Think of Me.

He could not control the strokes of his hand nor did he really try. This one pleasure was all he had ever had. This would be the last time he was ever in his home. What better way to leave a place that had been his greatest pleasure as well as one of his deepest sorrows?
He traced his hand along her face down her long slim neck then on down just to where her pert breasts jutted against her gown.
How many lonely nights had he spent with his hand tugging and stroking his hard cock after one of Christine's lessons? Far too many.
Taking a seat in one of the chairs that had been spared destruction Erik unbuttoned his trousers with a bit of urgency. His cock sprang free and proud pulsing with want that only he had ever satisfied. In his fantasies Christine stroked his hardened flesh In his imagination she would stroke her free hand along toward her breast to caress and pinch the tight pink bud as she unbuttoned her dress baring her flesh for his eyes to feast upon.
Her soft hand would caress its way down toward the hem of her gown. Gathering the skirt of her gown she would work her hand under the garment to find her wetness between her legs. Her fingers would stroke her bud as she moaned and rocked against her stroking fingers.
Erik would match stroke for stroke upon his cock until his frantic fast stroking had him about to burst. To add to his pleasure he would wet his fingers wrapping his fingers tightly around his pulsing cock. He had never entered a woman but he thought that tight wetness might be close to how a woman's warm wet canal would feel.
His eyes closed Erik watched in his mind's eye as Christine approached her climax. Her moans grew louder the nearer she came to completion. The thought that brought forth his seed as he stroked his hot eager cock was hearing her cry his name as they both hit that final peak before spending their pleasure. Erik's warm seed spilled out into his cupped hand.
A few slow last strokes milked the last of his expelled seed. As Erik's breath slowed he wondered why he rarely ever thought of entering Christine in his fantasies. Perhaps his imagination could not match fantasy to reality as he had never experienced that exchange of passion with anyone.
With Christine gone from his life he doubted he would ever find another woman who could make him hard just with her voice. Many times during their lessons he had been thankful he hid behind a mirror as he stroked his hard cock in his hand while Christine sang.
Cleaning himself with his handkerchief he rose to his feet. Buttoning his trousers he allowed himself another long look at the destruction around him.
The good memories he had of this once elegant home were overshadowed by the pain and humiliation suffered in one night. It took one night to destroy the life he had spent twenty years building. Relinquishing the hurtful remembrances he gathered his fortune and left all else as it lay on the floor giving silent testimony that the Phantom of the Opera dwelled here no longer. One last look in good-bye and Erik left his underground home and The Paris Opera House for the final time bidding farewell to The Opera Ghost. The Phantom of the Opera. Whether his spirit remained housed in the man known as Erik, time would tell the tale.
Nadir was quite pleased with how simple a few dollars crossing the palm of an official produced such satisfactory results. Even the documents forged for Erik’s new name were acquired most efficiently. Erik was now “Erik Fontaine”. Erik being Erik wanted his surname to be “Phantom” but Nadir stood firm against it and Erik settled in the end for a name similar but not quite so obvious. It was good to have Erik’s spirits returning although he was never known for his humor he occasionally had a dark sense of the comedy of life. Nadir hoped with exposure to a more normal life his outlook would also become normal and see the humor in a joke. Erik was too pragmatic to appreciate Nadir and Darius’ droll sense of humor at times. Their jokes only puzzled him and induced him to ask question after question until the humor of the joke was lost.
For his part Erik knew he had to put forth more effort to blend in. He would need to shed his dark persona that he had cultivated for so long as a protection against those who would not accept him as he truly was. It would be strange to be part of the human race. Of course Erik knew he was human but he had never been allowed the luxury of living as other men did. All his life they had shunned him and he had hated almost everyone except for a small number of people. He could count on one hand the humans he considered worthy of drawing breath. As often as he had denied he was a part of the human race his obsession with Christine had proven he was all too human with normal desires of a man. These desires he had been able to bury deep as he knew to allow them free reign was useless as by his own hand was the only source of release for him. A release he had to take quite often even as he hated giving into this weakness of his flesh. He was too fastidious for the service of prostitutes. He had enough insanity of his own without contracting a disease that eventually drove a man mad while eating away at his brain.
It was decided that England would be their first stop until a plan could be formed and put into motion. Erik was not one to favor spontaneity. He liked things to be planned so no unwanted surprises arose. Although his plan with Don Juan Triumphant and the dropping of the chandelier had not been a well laid or well thought out plan hence it’s failure. Love and lust had blinded his eyes to the reality of his actions. In his blindness he had not wanted to see the possibility of failure. Being honest after recalling the last few months he had seen the end result but turned blindly away from the truth of his inevitable failure.
If he had taken time to think he would have whisked Christine away and wooed her later without the dramatic exit and devastation. A simple kidnapping would have given better results.
His music and voice had always been like a hypnotic drug to Christine. He could have seduced her. Many times she had come to his underground home and if not for his sense of honor and damned ingrained gentlemanly manners he could have had the young soprano on many occasions when his song and touch had made her act less than an innocent. Her body had been all to ready to give him what he wanted but in his arrogance he wanted her love before consummating the relationship. He was so sure he could persuade her. Oh to only go back in time and choose a different path.
Many nights of discussion and it was decided they would take the next boat to England taking only what was absolutely necessary. Anything they required could be purchased later. Money and clothing were all Erik had to show for his twenty some years living in a dark hole in the ground. Everything else had gone up in smoke and the mob searching to spill his blood had destroyed his home upon finding him gone from his home by the lake. He vowed never to go underground again. The next time he was buried under dirt he would be dead and not before.
The world respected power and money. He would gather so God damned much power and money he would equal a king. When he had enough then he would show all those who rejected him what it meant to feel pain. Christine and her young boy would feel the wrath of his anger in due time. He could wait.
He was no longer a freak show attraction. Soon he would live as other men did. His wealth would shroud those who looked upon him with blinding eyes. For the right inducement with coin he could buy loyalty and favor. In Persia he had been close to a god because of the fear he instilled in those who saw the darkness in his eyes and the evil intent of the devices he invented for torture.
He would gain a new source of power. Wealth. He was wealthy by anyone’s standards already. The kind of wealth he wanted, no needed, was equaled only by the wealth of long dead Kings and Pharaohs.
Erik was not comfortable boarding the train until they reached their private car. He felt as if all eyes were on him and judging him and in truth there were eyes on him. Many admiring female eyes. All went unnoticed as Erik’s only concern was to get to the privacy of their sleeping car. Finding their car he opened the door and gratefully took a step inside not waiting to see if Nadir or Darius followed behind him. He flopped onto the seat and exhaled heavily. This should have been his voyage with Christine beside him starting their new life as man and wife. Having two male companions was not how he envisioned his new life starting.
Coming into the car Nadir had a less than cordial look on his face. “As usual Erik you run off leaving me holding the bags. Were it not for the fact that Darius was with me I would have not been able to manage. You are without doubt the most thoughtless man I know. I am quite cross with you at this moment. You show no appreciation for all I have done. Not one word of thanks have I gotten from your miserable, ungrateful, selfish mouth.”
"Thank you for doing what any good Christian would have gladly done for me knowing that I must not give the citizens too long to look upon my hideous face. We would not want to cause a panic. So thank you for doing your Christian duty as other Christians do daily without need for thanks or compensation."
"Oh is that so? And pray tell where were all these so called Christians when Darius and I were holding vigil at your bedside? I know we would have been glad to be relieved from watching over your ungrateful hide for a few hours. One would think a “thank you” would cross your lips at our kindness. Oh, pardon me I forgot to whom I am speaking. The great Erik who expects the world to bow at his feet so he can walk upon the bodies of those he considers beneath him."
"Did I not just a scant few seconds ago thank you? Good God Nadir you sound like a complaining wife. God forbid I ever get married if I were to be saddled with the likes of someone like you. Stop complaining like an old woman. You sound like one more every day. Let me please have silence for a bit so I may rest." Erik crossed his arms over his chest and closed his eyes.
"Oh yes you must be extremely tired having walked from the carriage to the train unencumbered by so much as an overnight bag. Dear me that must have been all of fifty steps from the carriage to the train platform and another twenty or thirty steps to our sleeping car. Are you sure you are quite recovered?"
Nadir put his hands up in front of him palms facing outward as he continued with his tirade. "Oh please do not get up you must not exert yourself so. Darius and I will handle this. You just rest and recuperate from your strenuous journey. We will put our things away. You must rest after all you have accomplished today."
"Thank you for your understanding. I am rather exhausted from all the travel."
"It must have escaped your notice but I was being sarcastic. For your education in such matters if I were a woman I would hope you would have a little more consideration and help carry our bags. I am not your servant. I swear sometimes I do not even like you. Now I think is one of those times. I think perhaps I will not speak to you until you apologize for your inconsiderate behavior."
"Thank God. I shall hold my apology until let us say the tenth day of never. Now maybe I can get some sleep. To not hear your voice complain for the next few hours seems my idea of heaven. If I have never told you before I will tell you now you have a most grating voice. Perhaps you have over taxed your vocal cords causing this grating noise in your speech."
"Ingrate," Nadir whispered. Erik pulled his hat down lower over his face and grinned.
Erik knew Nadir was only fussing to take his mind off traveling. It was always the same. Nadir would find something to complain about and argue incessantly about it. The first few times Erik had not caught on but soon he realized his friend was not that petty or complaining. On reflection he noticed these bouts of harping only occurred when he and Erik had to be in the public for any length of time. He appreciated his friend’s thoughtfulness but it was still quite irritating to listen to him complain like a woman.
Burrowing down lower into his seat he let his mind wander. It had been eight long months since the disaster. He wondered how Christine was managing in her life as a vicomtesse. It hurt his heart to know she shared a bed with another though she had long ago lost her innocence to the boy. The weeks when she had left the opera house before the Gala he knew she was with that young whelp. When she returned the knowledge of a woman shown in her eyes. It had taken all his strength to refrain from hunting the boy down and snapping his neck like a twig. The only thing saving the boy was the fact that he wanted to claim Christine in front of the whole audience during the performance of his opera. Erik had wanted to grind that young nobles face in the knowledge that his “Little Lotte” had hot desire coursing in her veins for her dark mysterious tutor. A desire for more than his voice and ability to make her voice soar to heaven. He had dreamt of her voice soaring to heaven screaming his own name as she came to the moment of gratification during their joining. That dream melted away as the morning mist gives way to the heat of the morning sun. So his dream disappeared also of being her first lover just as she would have been his.
The trip to Le Havre, the port in Normandy where they would take the next step in their journey, was made without incidence. Erik made a point of carrying more than his fair share of the luggage to the gangplank where deckhands would take it to their designated cabins. The only way for Erik to avoid being seen was to sneak aboard among the food and other goods being loaded. Nadir squashed that plan as soon as Erik gave voice to it during breakfast. If he was to be a man he needed to begin to live as a man.
Having decided revenge was not his most sensible pursuit for the moment Erik accepted what fate had deemed to be his next fork in the road of his life. With little regret Erik and his two companions boarded the ship that would carry them to England. In a few days he would begin to gain all he had ever longed for. He could even have a woman. She would not love him and may not be able to look upon his face but if enough monetary inducement was offered even he could lay with a woman. Having lost his dream of his one true love he would settle for the satisfaction of having his body pleasured. Something he felt he had waited long enough to achieve. God he was a thirty year old virgin. Most men lost their innocence at the age of sixteen. Many nobles took their sons to brothels for just that purpose. Those fathers frowned upon those women but still availed themselves of the women’s services.
Erik thought this was the most pressing issue. Having his libido awakened by Christine and left without satisfaction was most distressing. Over the years he had at times been caught in the shackles of burning lust but had for the most part driven it out with his music. His passionate music had taken the place of the passion in his body. Perhaps that is why he was always in a frenzy when he composed. After days of composing non stop his body would be in a state of bliss when the final note was written. Much like a man who had been sated with a woman’s body. Christine had ruined his love affair with his music. It was no longer his mistress. He still had the passion for it but now he wanted another mistress to fulfill his bodies passionate needs.
They left France in the early morning just as the sun was coming up chasing away the shadows of the night. The time was just before the sun crested over the horizon. Darkness had not completely relinquished it’s hold on the night. The three men boarded the ship with a light mist and dense fog shrouding them from prying eyes. Erik was glad for the cover of the mist and fog as he was never comfortable among people. The stares unnerved him and provoked unease and anger.
Two promises Erik made to himself as the ship left the country of his origin and headed for new vistas. He would never again deprive himself of the warmth of the sun on his face. He would now have a day and a night. No more days of eternal darkness. The second promise involved his baser needs. He would not spend his life not knowing the sweet embrace of a woman’s legs gripping him in passion or arms holding him to those soft feminine curves of a woman’s breasts.
He knew the mechanics of making love he had just never had an opportunity to use his knowledge on any woman. Life behind the scenes of the opera and life in the Persian harem had shown him what the exchange of passion was supposed to be and by God he would have that pleasure soon. Christine’s rejection had shown him his folly of expecting a woman to come to him without the added inducement of financial gain. God how his body ached for her even now knowing of her betrayal. He was even more pathetic than he had originally thought. As hard as he tried her face was planted firmly in his memory and could not be pushed out.
What Erik didn’t know and Nadir did was Erik was an attractive man. He was young and wealthy. His body was one to be envied as he was quite strong and muscular. His climbing in the rafters and flies of the theatre had toned his body well not to mention all the stairs he climbed keeping watch over the opera house. His skin was quite pale but that could be remedied with exposure to the sun and a proper diet. Not the sporadic meals Erik consumed when he even thought to eat.
The dark and damp hole he had lived in was not conducive to a healthy complexion. The small portion of his ravaged face would always be a source of disgust and fear for some but there were many women who would find his charm and virile body outweighing any physical deformity. Nadir admitted privately Erik’s face was quite upsetting to see at first. Even after all these years Nadir flinched when he happened to get a glimpse of that horrible sight. Not so much anymore because of it’s ugliness but because he knew of the pain it caused Erik. He had learned not to let his reaction show in any noticeable way or perhaps Erik simply chose not to see his discomfort.
Erik just needed time in the real world to find such women and how to interact with the human race without using his weapon of choice his Punjab lasso on all who anger him. Nadir had extracted a promise from Erik that he would no longer take a life of someone simply because they had the bad luck to fall in his disfavor. Erik had promised he would only use his weapon if his life or the life of an innocent was in danger. Nadir had to be satisfied with that concession. Once Erik gave his word as a gentleman he would stand by it as a matter of honor. If nothing else Erik was a gentleman and a man of honor.
As Nadir stood at the rail beside Erik he prayed for such a woman soon as his friend was not known for patience. Left alone too long without stimulation his mind would fall into the deep depression Erik was prone to sooner or later.
"Erik, I did not ask before but I will ask now. Did you suffer much when you went back to your lair? Have you been able to let go of some of the more painful memories?"
"To bid a final farewell to my old home was quite distressing. Did not the German philosopher Friedrich Nietzche say “That which does not kill us makes us stronger”? I will survive the loss and be stronger for the pain I suffered. Nadir I will never forget my love for Christine. I fear she has embedded herself in my heart to deeply to have her removed. It was hard to let go of my old home but I am resigned to looking toward my future. In fact I am quite looking forward to new experiences. There are so many possibilities out there. Is it foolish of me to think I might experience some of those wonderful life experiences others take for granted?"
"Erik it is not foolish at all. As soon as you set foot on the deck of this ship your new life began. It is up to you to pursue life. You can not bury yourself in darkness and then bemoan the fact that life is passing you by. This is a fresh start and a new chance at life. Grab it with both hands my friend."
"I do no wish to intrude but Master Erik, Nadir speaks the truth. The biggest barrier between living life and watching it from the dark corners has always been within you. You place yourself outside the circle of humanity. I am not saying all will be willing to accept you. There will always be those who will reject you. Some may even turn away in horror. For each one who rejects you there will be one who wants to know you as you really are. Not the man in the mask but the man behind that shield. Master Nadir and I face prejudice every day. It is not easy being of different religions and different skin tones than what is excepted as the norm. We know who we are and our value. That is something you must learn. Please forgive me for speaking so freely." As the last words were spoken Darius bowed with his hands placed together.
"Nonsense Darius. You hold a place equal to that of Erik and myself. Why should you not speak your mind? In fact I agree with what you have said. If Erik gives it some thought he will also. He knows the truth of your words. We have lived in France for the last ten years yet there were still those who looked at us as if we should not rub elbows with any of those fine noble men and women. Not all but enough for it to be noticeable."
The two men faced Erik expectantly. He said nothing. His eyes never left the vista of the receding coastline of France. In his heart he knew they spoke the truth. Sharing feelings and listening to the opinions of others was a new experience for Erik. He had always made decisions on his own. He had never had anyone to give him advice or guidance. Erik had so much to learn about living among others. He hoped he was up to the task he had set for himself.
Realizing Erik would not be commenting on their statements both men turned back to the rail and continued to watch as the outline of France grew smaller. Noticing the sun beginning to clear away the last of the mist and fog Erik bid them good-day. His resolution not to be deprived of the sun could wait until another day. He had tested his bounds of tolerance already by standing at the rail while other passengers did the same. He needed the sanctuary of his cabin. He still needed solitude once in a while as much as he had hated it as the dark dweller of the opera house. Now solitude was a choice and not something forced because of how others would react to him.
Quietly, so quiet so as to be almost lower than a whisper Erik said, “Thank you my friends.”
So a new chapter began for the man known as The Phantom of the Opera and soon to be known as Erik Fontaine. The ship sailing into the darkened night taking him away from a shore that had long tortured his soul and to a shore where he might find redemption and peace and most of all the allusive love he needed most desperately.
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Ascent to Power