Garnets on the Asteric Plane - Chapter 2

Ilias was working on covering the scars on his cheeks when his kidnapper knocked. Her muffled voice came from outside his door, which was unlocked. What a nice kidnapper to knock and not walk in on him half dressed. "How long exactly does it take you to do your celebrity guy stuff? Because you take longer than my sister in the bathroom."

He continued to finish one side, when she knocked harder. He growled. "Give me a second, you depressed rat colony in a human suit wearing a smiley face mask and miscellaneous stuff."

"What was that?" She called. "Your waiter's kitchen? You're waiting for a chicken?"

"Give me a second!" He yelled. He got a grunt in response, and heard her walk away. Probably to go look around his house like a nosy person. He continued to apply cosmetics. He'd learned to apply little, but make it unnoticeable that he wore cosmetics. He didn't think he'd be able to come up with a good excuse for having so many weird scars. But he'd covered all the scars on his top half in case he ended up going shirtless for whatever reason. Then he got into his asteric clothing. He had grabbed the first thing that was on there, which was fitted especially for him. Unlike generic asteric clothing, it wasn't tight around the limbs and loose everywhere else. It was comfortable, yet wouldn't move when gravity pulled him a different direction. He grabbed a suit that should fit his kidnapper, that was the size of his actual second cousin that was twice removed.

He walked out, where she was leaning against his wall reading from a tiny book. She raised her eyebrow as his clothing. He just held out the suit he got for her. He would love for her to board wearing non-asteric clothing, and be surprised at just how unprepared she was. Ew, when he thought about it again, he sounded like a creep. "Trust me, you're going to prefer wearing this in the asteric realm."

"None of my reading suggests that ridiculous suits are required for entry into the asteric realm."

He shrugged. "No, it's not required, but gravity is strange and wearing normal clothes is just a catalyst for an embarrassing moment to happen. Your choice really. But it wouldn't quite fit for me to bring someone to the asteric plane unprepared."

His kidnapper's eyes darted around his face, probably trying to read to see if he was serious or not. He moved his arm around slightly, as he was impatient and his arm was getting tired. Finally, she grabbed the suit and walked into his bathroom. Definitely snooped around. He quickly went off to where he fought her before, his knife still there on the floor. He picked it up and cleaned it. Can't have a very noticeable, bloody knife in his home, could he? He got back to place in perfect time as she walked about, returning from the bathroom. He leaned on the wall, arms crossed.

His kidnapper plucked at the sleeves of the suit experimentally. Definitely had never been to the asteric plane, probably never actually saw pictures of people there. Just the pictures without clothes fitted for asteric plane gravity. "It's not the worst thing ever, I suppose." She frowned. "Well. Guest pass crystal, please?"

"Yeah no, you don't get this until we're at the airport." He smiled, showing it to her, swinging it around on a finger.

She huffed and made a grab for it. He snatched it in his palm and moved it away, laughing. He wasn't about to let her leave with it and leave him here. He'd definitely never get his pass back, and those were expensive to replace. Besides, it turned things around. His kidnapper was entirely dependent on him, instead of the other way around. He bet she wasn't realizing that either. "Too slow!"

She rolled her eyes. So dramatic, her eyeballs at this point were probably more muscular than his friend on steroids. "Whatever. Now, the astericport-"

There was banging on the door, and Ilias stiffened. This meant he had missed lunch. No, of course he didn't have clocks on his walls. He was usually so busy that he didn't do much to pay attention to the time, he knew it internally. Thanks to a certain someone, that was messed up. She narrowed her eyes with suspicion. "The cops?"

"Most likely not." He replied, walking to the door. "Most likely people who are going to kill me for not meeting them, yes."

"Not literally, I hope."

"Oh, probably literally. Yep, it's them." He replied looking through the peephole as he fought the urge to snort at his kidnapper's concern. The entire group. He was surprised some of them actually made the effort to come here. Then again, it would be worth seeing the pulp get beaten out of him.

"Are you going to open the door?"

Absolutely a trash job at kidnapping. If he were going to kidnap someone, he definitely wouldn't trust them to open the door, unless them not opening it would raise suspicion. He opened the door, and immediately was poked in the chest, specifically his pec. Ouch.

"What came up now man? We were supposed to be talking about the new movie over some of Anio's Pizza." Gean crossed his arms. Not a bad guy, but very straightforward. Makes sense that his last girlfriend only stayed with him for a week. At this point he had probably dated every woman within a 200 mile radius.

"I don't think you used the word 'literally' properly," His kidnapper whispered to Ilias. Now why couldn't she have just stayed hidden? "Unless these guys truly feel that skipping pizza is a crime punishable by death."

"Eyyyy, who's this one? A new girlfriend?" A few snickered and howled. "How long is she going to last you?"

Ilias just laughed along, his kidnapper making a weird sound behind him. "No actually, she's my twice removed second cousin of a second cousin on my mother's side."

His kidnapper rearranged her face into a cheery grin. "Yep. Wouldn't hang around this dude if he wasn't family, you know what I mean?"

"Yeah, I know exactly what you mean." One of the guys nodded and held out his fist. The kidnapper tapped it with her own fist. Great. Now he'd have a problem explaining why they wouldn't see his "cousin" again. Maybe he could say she got killed after an assassin nearly killed him or something.

"Ouch. Yeah, between my chances of you guys killing me, or her, I'd fear dying by her hand more than you guys, but we're kind of on a tight schedule so I'll see you guys some time, let's say next week yeah?" He smiled, but it was impossible for them to tell if it was forced or genuine. Of course it was forced. With some grumbling, the guys left, one punching Ilias in the gut. Ilias then dramatically groaned and fell to the floor. He posed as if he was dead, closing his eyes.

"That wasn't even a hard punch." His kidnapper said. He opened his eyes, to see her staring.

Ilias closed the door with his foot as his friends left. He was very tempted to make a joke about being kidnapped, but he preferred to have an alibi. Even if they were fishy. Not just in scent, but actions too. "It's just a thing we do alright? Inside joke."

"Far be it from me to question the ludicrous rituals of celebrities." She put her hands up.

"Oh wait until you see to our cultist rituals that we all do together around a lemon tree." He grinned. Admittedly, it only happened once but that was funny. He can't promise that the staff of a mental institution didn't come to their ritual to stop them.

"I prefer oranges, but to each their own." His kidnapper pushed the door open again and led the way to the car. So disappointing, having to peel himself off of the ground. His floor felt really comfortable, and he was reluctant to get up. "Next stop: the astericport."

"Hey lemon meringue pies are delish." He argued.

"Have you ever tried an orange meringue pie? It might be even more delish."

"I have, and I still prefer lemon."

"Makes sense, actually. You're just as annoyingly bright as a lemon, and anyone around you is tempted to wrinkle their faces as if they've eaten something sour." Well, that was a blow to his ego. He preferred to think of himself to be like salt.

"Haven't you heard the phrase of when life gives you lemons you should make lemonade?"

"Actually, I've always been more fond of the phrase, 'when life gives you lemons, squirt them in life's eyes.'"

"That works too, now drive. Pedal to the metal. Floor it."

She stomped on the gas. "If we get into an accident, I blame you for distracting me."

He laughed, thoroughly enjoying the speed.

~◇~

The astericport was a sleek, modern building with hexagonal tiles that shifted hues from magenta to sunrise orange to buttercup yellow. The doors opened automatically for Ilias, and his kidnapper slipped through before they closed. It seemed fairly empty, which was nice. Then again, it was always like that. There weren't exactly that many ruling family members.

Inside, a few other members of the ruling families were wearing similar suits to Ilias and company. No members of the middle or lower classes were present in the astericport, however. Only those of the ruling families and their guests could access the astericport. Well, and the paparazzi, when they swarmed security to get photos.

"Okay, Ilias. Where are the planes? Also, where's the crystal you promised me?" His kidnapper asked. Definitely has never done a kidnapping before.

"Well, you've got security to go through first, so I do hope you didn't bring any weapons along." He waved to someone he probably knew.

"Do complex chemical substances count as weapons?" Well no duh- jeez does she just not have any clue to how security works?

"Well, obviously. It is something they can detect."

She scowled. "Alright, I'll leave them in the car."

"Good idea."

Once the chemicals had been safely deposited in the car, they walked through security. Ilias handed her the guest key at the very end. "Be careful, don't lose this because it's going to get crowded here very soon. And no scowling."

"Noted. Though not scowling might be a tad bit difficult with you here." Soon enough, as they walked down the corridors, said crowd appeared. His kidnapper pasted a vague smile onto her face and wrapped the chain of the crystal around her fingers. Very convincing. That's extreme sarcasm by the way.

Her eyes darted back and forth, landing for a few seconds on each person in the crowd. Many were carrying crystals wrapped with metal, and a few were holding brightly colored drinks. "Where are they getting the drinks from?" She asked.

"There's a bar over there." He pointed to the left, where there was indeed a bar. "Best drinks in the prime plane."

"Perfect." She perused the menu, then ordered a tourmaline cocktail to go.

Ilias watched her as she did so not moving, not trying to escape at all, as she probably expected. "You better not puke all over me when we're on the plane."

"Oh, rest assured that I will absolutely puke over you if I get planesick. But don't worry, I'll try my best not to. Puking is unpleasant, after all."

There was a waiting area with plush chairs and some light refreshments. An attendant stood at a counter in case people had questions, and as they watched, people started lining up in front of him. A few held guest pass crystals like the one Ilias had given her.

"So. Is there a certain order we line up, or is it first come first serve?" His kidnapper asked. Researched him almost throughly, knows a bit about the asteric realm's technology, but doesn't do thorough research on the gravity in the asteric realm or how an astericport works? Tsk, he now questioned his first theory that she was an assassin. Just a highly skilled lowly peasant.

"Well, first come first serve, but it does depend on whether or not you get swarmed by a mob of people." He replied, looking in a different direction, towards security, where a wave of photographers surged towards them as if in slow motion.

"Oh, great. Paparazzi?" She asked, noticing the mass of people who made a living out of being annoyingly persistent.

"Yep. It's a real pain sometimes." He forced a smile.

"Tell me they're not aiming for you. Surely there are other famous people within the ruling families."

"Unfortunately, I'm in one of the more famous families. Not everyday your parents change society." He muttered.

"Okay, well, that's my cue to melt into the background. I'll see you on the asteric plane. That is, if you survive the paparazzi." She grinned and turned to join the line. Oh no, this was not going to work like that.

Ilias grabbed her arm before she could make it. "You're either joining me in the suffering, or you're pulling me out."

She grabbed her arm with her other arm and yanked it out of Ilias's grip, biting back a wince. "I don't want my face plastered over the news, so guess I'm pulling you out."

"You wanted to get to the asteric plane, this is what you get to deal with." He replied, his eyes narrowing. That was a wince of pain. So it was that arm that he had hit. She groaned, still in the middle of a decision that Ilias really wished she'd hurry up on making. The paparazzi would reach them in around ten seconds, judging by their current rate of motion, and they'd already spotted Ilias. The line was moving quickly as people boarded the plane, but not quickly enough.

She finally made a decision and pulled Ilias to the front of the line, saying, "Sorry, everyone! We're really in a rush. This guy will pay for your drinks once we're on board." She shoved the guest pass crystal at the attendant, who hesitated, then passed a scanner over it after she fixed him with her best glare. Ilias gave the attendant an apologetic glance and his pass card.

Then they were running down the gangway to the plane, while the paparazzi were held up by the attendant. "You cannot go into the plane!" He said sternly. "Only those of the bloodline or with guest crystals..." Ilias tuned the rest out as they boarded the plane. This could not have possibly gone worse. Well, it could have but it didn't go as well as he'd liked it to have. This kidnapper was weird, and did not plan very well. In order to not get caught she'd have to be more careful. Like applying makeup to hide things. You didn't slather it on with a putty knife, you added just enough so that it covered with being noticeable. But she was hasty in her getting on the plane, and that was bound to raise a red flag if someone paid close attention. He didn't have much of a problem with it, he'd just need to get another alibi.