Erik chuckled, his hands dropping to his sides.
"This has been my abode for much longer than that Mademoiselle. I added the traps not long after a particularly nasty run in with a patrol, nigh a year ago." He stifled a satisfied grin. "They have never failed since."
With a motion of his black gloved hand he motioned toward a almost invisible second passage, not intended for the doomed Automatons to detect, but perfect for someone to bypass the traps. Namely himself.
"To avoid immanent death, please follow this passage to the end and do not turn aside at any crossroad. It could prove fatal. At the end you will find a solid wall of red brick, on the side, a small lever. Pull it, and you shall be safe once more, within the streets of the Landing. "
With a small bow, The Phantom withdrew into the seclusion of his dark labyrinths once more, most amused at the girl called Aelis, and her stumbling upon the tunnels. He sobered at the though of what could have happened had he not been there to warn her. He would have to be more careful of his entrances. His feet absently plotted a course, taking him through the cobweb pattern tunnels as he planned ahead. The tunnel the girl had stumbled upon would have to be closed, that fact was inevitable. She could try to return, no, she would try to return, and that could prove harmful to both of them.
Erik hummed a halfhearted composition as he climbed a long flight of elaborate stairs, a small smile teasing at his lips. This was his favorite area other than his Lair. As he strode up the last of the stairwell, he flicked a lever on the wall, rotating it outwards onto a balcony over all of No Man's Landing. The light of a moon in all of it's glory cascaded over his ghost white coat and mask, making his appearance seem even more like the Ghost he was famed to be. The Phantom's eyes shone, as he composed a simple G minor song just for that moment. From here, he could observe without being seen, and hear sounds clearer than he would if he was ghosting along street corners.
A sweet, but soft tune met his keen ears, as if from great distance. He frowned, tilting his head to try and determine the origin of the music. It was the voice of a female, that much he was certain, a voice pure and strong, full of deep emotion for the lyrics she sang. He jumped out onto the roof of a nearby building, straining his hearing to pick out the words. His eyes widened as he identified the song he knew all to well. A song that had once long belonged to someone else, but now was sung not in fright, but in awe.
Without a thought he leapt from the rooftops, his feet landing softly as he sped across the lower peak of another building. He followed the music, his mind still enraptured by the voice. He chased the notes and rhymes, hoping the singer would be found. At long last he stood looking down on a girl, who had her eyes closed as she sang the last bars of the song. His heart clenched painfully, she reminded him of Christine. He could tell she was different, her hair was of a different hue, but it was far more than that. She did not have the same childish innocence. Her posture and demeanor reflected a girl that had seen things similar to himself, and had survived the hardships of life.
He slipped to the edge of the roof just as the last notes faded into the moonlit night, invisible to the girl, but still being able to see. The smile that graced his face couldn't be helped no matter how hard he wished to stifle it.
"Bravo! Bravo! Bellissimo!" He sang back, his baritone voice echoing in the shadows.
