8This work is based on furby23's Rat AU, the cutest and most wholesome Phantom adaptation to ever grace the internet. It can be found on both this site and AO3, where she goes by "Mertens." I hope I've captured her humorous, family-friendly aesthetic here. Please make sure to check out The Opera Rat Really Did Exist and Between Two Eternites, as well as all her other fics
Erik is indeed a literal rat.
Erik recalled in his dreams a time when he was large. Larger than he was now, for all his great size. In those days, he had been pale and thin, and still terribly ugly.
Big Mother had hated him. He did not look the way she wanted, and he did not act the way she wanted. She kept him locked away in the attic of her house and yelled at him when he tried to come out. She yelled at him and hit him for many things. He would never eat the food she cooked for him, especially the pastries she was fond of herself. He would say strange things that scared her. He would bother her with his experiments, which inevitably involved things she did not want him to touch. He asked for kisses from her, because mothers kissed their children, and she could not give him that. She took him to a mirror and showed him why. She was a beautiful woman, with dark curls, green eyes, and a perfect face. He was an ugly monster, with withered yellow skin, sunken yellow eyes, and a skeletal face that had a hole in place of a nose. He left her because she did not want him.
Little Mother hated him too. The first thing he remembered was fighting his siblings for food, and how Mother never allowed him any if they were not there. After that, he remembered being cold, and being pushed away every time he found a warm, furry spot. When he first opened his eyes, he saw that Mother kissed and washed his siblings and allowed them into the nest. He asked for kisses from her, and she could not give him that. Not until later did he know why. Little Mother was beautiful too, with shiny silver fur, black eyes, and a plump body. All his siblings were beautiful like her. He was an ugly monster, with no fur, red eyes, and a long, thin, wrinkled body. He left her because she did not want him.
As Big Erik, he had traveled across the world, displaying himself as a freak. Sometimes he had to stay in a cage, and he hated that. But oh, how he loved learning new tricks! There was nothing he could not master after he heard of it. Soon, he became the greatest ventriloquist, illusionist, and trap-maker in the world! Two of his talents he valued above all: architecture and music. He was always a great musician, with the most beautiful voice in the world. It was the one truly beautiful part of him. Music had kept him company when his mother would not. He could say more with instruments than he could with words. When he gave himself over to his muse, he felt his soul fly free of its wretched prison and brush against Heaven itself. He had studied architecture over the years, and it was tied to all of his happiest childhood memories. He had almost found a home in Italy, in the shadow of grand marble buildings, adding his own touch to the city that had hosted so many master masons, but then he had done something very bad. Nevertheless, he looked forward to carving a legacy for himself in stone, a masterpiece that would last through the ages and be unlike anything else that came before.
One day, a man some years older than himself came to bring him to Persia. He went with this jade-eyed man because he thought he could do something great with his talents in the royal court. He was not disappointed, because the Shah allowed him to build a great palace. He also gave him power over life and death, something he enjoyed very much in the beginning, but soon grew to hate. In fact, he grew to hate almost everything about his life in Persia, when he realized he was now in a cage that he could never be free from. He especially hated the Shah and most of the people around him, except for the jade-eyed man and his family, who were his only friends. He saved that man's life at a great cost to himself, but it was worth it.
As Little Erik, he had explored the entire palace and familiarized himself with every secret that it held. Oh, how proud he was of his tricks! Soon, he was the greatest thief, illusionist, and trap-maker in the world. No one, not rodent, nor cat, nor human, could ever detect him if he wanted to hide himself, and there were so many places to hide in his secret realm within the palace walls. He would throw his voice into distant corners, and thus walk those who would trap him into traps of his own design. He wove together a new fur for himself from the bits of cloth that the humans threw away and the fur that the cats shed, so he was no longer cold. He took things from the cats and the humans and hid them, and then watched and laughed as they worked themselves into a frenzy trying to find their lost items. But of all his talents, he was proudest of his music. It was the only truly beautiful part of him. When he sang along with the Shah's musicians, he felt like something greater than an ugly creature spurned by his own kind. He studied the musicians' movements and practiced on their instruments when they were left unattended. He quickly mastered all the songs and instruments, and started creating his own music. He was a genius, after all. He looked forward to crafting a grand composition that would express every detail of emotion, a masterpiece that would last through the ages and be unlike anything else that came before.
One day, a man came into the palace. He followed the man because he looked unlike anyone else here. The humans and the cats were all arrogant and sly and lazy, but this man's jade-colored eyes were tired and kind and sad. He hated every human, cat, and rodent in Persia, but he would never be able to hate the jade-eyed man. Not even when he was finally caught and put in a cage because of him. That man would become Erik's friend, and save his life at a great cost to himself, and Erik wondered if it was worth it.