#and i got stuck behind bikers taking up the whole lane

[backfliips]

Man this is the first birthday I've sat alone in my room and sobbed on

[falsealchemist-blog]

Chapter 2.1 - Highway to Hell

Six months after Argent knocks on ash’s door.

“You’re fucking CRAZY,” Ash half screamed, clinging desperately to the safety handle in Argent’s car. In response, Argent started cackling, then stuck his head out of his window. The reason for Ash’s distress was quite apparent- They were currently speeding down a freeway at upwards of 90 miles an hour, with several vehicles in pursuit. oh, and they were going against the flow.

“huh” Argent remarked, half to himself. “Ya know, Usually the Elswain family doesn’t chase alchemists this far away from there territory. I wonder why...” Ash fixed his mentor with a steely glare. “Maybe it has something to do with the fact that you broke into their estate and stole a fucking briefcase! You said you were going to teach me how to gather pure Vermilion Ore! Not rob a freaking crime syndicate!” He let out a high pitched squeak as Argent cut across three lanes, barely missing an oncoming semi. Argent didn’t break from watching his pursuers. “that’s what I’m doing right now. and don’t call the Elswains a crime syndicate- They get touchy about that.” Ash stared at him incredulously. “Touchy? You STOLE something from them, I don’t think they’ll care whether or not we used the proper terminology when they break our kneecaps.” Argent frowned, thinking, then made an ‘ahh’ sound of realization as he maneuvered through a narrow gap between a minivan and a sports car.. “oops. I forgot to explain. Ash, this IS how to harvest vermilion ore- the only way, in fact.” “Right.” Ash said, fixing argent with the patented ‘you must think i’m stupid’ look of his that he’d spent his entire life practicing. “theft is the ONLY way to get the ore. And I’m Gandhi.” Argent squinted at his mirror, worried. why hadn’t the Elswain broken off pursuit yet? “ha, ha. Jokes aside, yes, theft is the only way to obtain vermilion ore from the source... kinda.” He took a moment, dragging his thoughts in order. “Right, so you asked that one time how alchemists could get away with harvesting specific materials from creatures considered sentient, and that had signed onto the Escalation treaties, yeah?” “yeah, but what does that have to-” Ash cut off with a panicked yelp as argent swerved off to the side to avoid a pack of bikers, kicking up a cloud of dirt from the shoulder of the road. “This. This is the workaround.” He gestured back at the pursuing vehicles. “Alchemists can harvest from any sentient species on the list, provided that they obtain prior permission, follow proper protocol, and if needed, provide reparations, usually healing and regeneration elixirs.”

Seeing Ash’s confusion, he continued. “The Elswain family is the only producer of vermilion ore, and are a distant to relation to dragons. I called ahead to obtain permission- this is proper protocol to obtain it.” “Wait” Ash said, thinking. “They wanted you to steal it?” Argent nodded. “Yes. well, technically, they want us to earn it. Many of the Escalation species, as we call the treaty signers, follow a similar line of thought, and challenge ingredient gatherers to various types of trials. ours was a simpler one- if you can grab it and get away, you can have it.” He looked at his rear-view mirror. “Though, they should have pulled off by now.” He frowned, concerned. “Check the briefcase, would you? make sure It has my name on it. I might’ve grabbed the wrong one.” Ash gave him a startled look, but then shrugged and glanced at the road. seeing that they were finally clear of oncoming traffic, he unclipped his seat belt and clambered into the backseat.

There, he found the source of today's troubles- A gleaming silver briefcase, about the size of a large laptop and only and inch or two thick. seeing nothing marking the front, he flipped it over. “Found it!” he called up. “there’s a small plate of metal, upper right corner, initialed A.C.” “Those are my initials alright. Although, the metal plate is fancier than I’m used too.” He mused out loud. “they usually just slap on a strip of duct tape with my info on it.” “why’s that” asked ash, clambering back into the passenger seat and buckling his seat-belt, case on his lap. “A sign of casual contempt.” remarked argent. He sighed in relief when he saw the pursuing vehicles fade out of sight. Turning, he looked at ash’s shocked face. “what?”

“Casual contempt? And you’re okay with that? You want everyone to like you!” Argent gave him a droll look. “I don’t want EVERYONE to like me, just those that I personally like. And I’m informed that their dislike of me is a thing to be proud of. It means they like me enough to hate me, if that makes sense. which, know that I think about it, kinda does. they usually treat everyone politely, but impersonally.” He nodded to himself, proud. Ash just shook his head. People are weird, he thought to himself. At that moment, the car gave off a small series of clicking noises. Argent chuckled, snapping out of his reviere, and patted the dash board.  “Thirsty? Don’t worry girl, I’ll fill you up when we get back.” Ash shook his head again. And Argent's the weirdest of the lot, he thought to himself. As he drifted off to sleep, a small corner of his mind noted that the seats of the car, which had at first seemed to be uncomfortable pleather, on second glance was actually real leather, soft and supple. before he could ponder that further, however, sleep took him. ******************************************************************************************* A- Well, that was a wild ride. M- Really Asterion? Puns? A- While I didn’t actually mean to make that pun, I will gladly take the credit for it. However, I’ve got to ask- Why the skip? There was a whole six months of of shenanigans that you just... glossed over! M- While a lot of interesting things did happen then, Argent and Ash didn’t really start bonding until around this point. sure, they opened up to each other a bit, but not in any real way. they both are still hiding behind their shells. Also, the whole six months thing is honestly better suited for a series of short stories, not the main novel. and finally, This is where events start to click into place, and where fate begins to reveal his plots. A- Yeah, yeah. You make a lot of points, but I know your true reason- Captialism!!! M- Asterion! *the sound of something being thrown echos* A- Ack! Sorry, I was joking! .... please don’t make me sleep on the couch. M- Your puppy dog eyes don’t work on me, Asterion. And don’t joke about the book. I don’t know why, but it’s gotta be this way, and nitpicking at it is gonna make me feel bad about it. A- ... technically, they’re little bulls eyes. M- *chuckles quietly*

A- Sorry boo. I forgot that this is your first book out in the open, and that i’m kinda forcing you into it. M- Hey, saving another Reality to set events in motion to protect my own is one hell of a way to get over writers block... and I forgive you. A- No couch? M- No couch.