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((If Trackstar gives Carlotta up, may I have permission to play her, then?))

Andre and Firmin came cover to the viscomte.

"Ah! Our new patron!" Andre came up to Raoul and shook his hand.

"Everyone! This is the Viscomte de Change (( er...i forgot how to spell his name ))" Firmin said, also shaking Raoul's hand.

Raould bowed his head to the people on stage. "An honor to meet you all..." he said with a handsome smile.

(( *whines* i don wanna be 4 people ))

((Vicomte is correct unless you were trying to spell Viscount, which is really the same thing.))

((Thanks for the clarification, Unromantic_Phantom and Utakan. I've seen it both ways so many times I was getting confused.))

~Monsieur Reyer ~

Carlotta truly was in fine voice tonight. They had barely finished the fourth measure of her opening line when he'd noticed the stagehands shoving cotton into their ears. Oh, if only he could do the same...

The diva was hitting the notes, but barely. And she had a tendency to... Is there even a term for this? he wondered.

After a moment, he decided that "warbling" was the best he could come up with. Simply put, this was highly unpleasant to listen to.

I need a respite from this, but technically she is doing no wrong, he thought wearily. Then he winced as she belted out a particularly high note. My poor old ears. And my family wonders how I could possibly be going deaf...

~ Monsieur Reyer ~

The old director had no time to react; only moments after his last thoughts, a backdrop had inexplicably crashed to the ground, taking Carlotta with it.

He jumped backwards, staring as stagehands rushed to help the diva back to her feet. The woman had let out a spectacularly loud shriek- which, ironically enough, was the correct pitch for her next note- as she had fallen. Now, she was busy screeching at any and everybody who was in range of that powerful set of lungs she owned.

Namely, everyone in the Opera Populaire.

He winced, and earnestly pleaded to the air, I didn't mean a respite that harmed her!

Well, he thought guiltily, at least his ears had a brief rest from her singing. Though her normal speaking voice was an entirely different story.

Antoinette's going to want to have a word with me for that little stunt, but even she will have to admit that everything sounds so much more pleasant without La Carlotta, thought Erik holding a hand over his mouth to keep from bursting into laughter. Carlotta was truly a prima donna in all senses of the word.

He watch the ballet girls chattering with one another in a small group. He could pick out a few mocking comments aimed at Carlotta, and he was certain that he heard a few people trying to immitate her. Of course, none of them could quite get her accent, and certainly they could not immitate her piercing shrieks. That was something he was certainly thankful for. He didn't want to have to drop scenery on them. He would never hear the end of it from Antoinette if he ever did. Endangering loud, annoying, demanding, and altogether unpleasant divas was one thing, but he would be a fool to dare endagering the ballerinas. She knew the truth about him.

Turning his attention towards the old and new managers, he had to clap a hand over his mouth again to keep from laughing at the expression on Monsieur Lefevre's face. The man looked as though he was about to pass out on the spot. That suited him just fine. Let the man be worried about whether that most recent mishap was a sign of the Opera Ghost's displeasure at not being informed of his retirement. It had irked him that he'd had to find out on his own.

The two new managers, Mssrs. Andre and Firmin, looked like they were about to have a fit at the thought of having to refund people's money. They were greedy. That was something he could use to his advantage. Certainly they would be open to almost any alternative than refunds. "This day is turning out to be quite wonderful," he whispered with a feral smile.