After the letter, Aria takes to sleeping with the Skaia around her neck. This night, however, nearly two weeks after receiving the letter, she feels different. She hasn't told anyone about it, let alone and especially Elena, and she feels slightly guilty as she lies down upon her pillow and stares at the open balcony door and the billowing curtains.
She stares outside as she thinks - and wonders. Who is Phantom? Who is the man behind the mask? Her thoughts swirl as her eyelids begin to close and darkness overtakes her...
Aria's eyes fly open as she senses someone near her. The first thing she sees is blond hair framing amethyst eyes, peeking out from beneath a raven-horned dark blue mask. She gasps as she stumbles upright, eyes widening at the stranger's proximity.
"Who are you?" She breathes. His eyes are on hers, deep and soulful.
"I wouldn't have chosen this as our first meeting, but - the name is Phantom." The man shifts himself slightly until he's seating on the edge of the bed instead of leaning over her. She's thankful for that, at least, for her heart pounds a lot less loudly in her chest the further he is from her.
"Phantom -" Aria mumbles as her eyes widen. "The master thief?" Her heart thuds at the thought of the INTRUDER in the room.
"The one and only. And I'm here for the Skaia." His lips quirk up in a wry smile.
Aria raises her eyebrows as she stares at him. "You've got some nerve. I'm calling for the guards." She doesn't know why she's said that, she doesn't know why she hasn't already raised the alarm, and she doesn't know how he's managed to sneak past all the palace guards.
She only has the answer to her third question - because he's Phantom - and the other two questions tug insistently at her mind. But what she does know is that his eyes have never left hers - and she knows that only because her eyes have never left his. He's here, and he's real. She swallows. She's got what she wanted.
"Go ahead." Phantom smirks, and in one quick movement reveals the Skaia already in his hands. He hops from the bed to face her, his back to the balcony.
"Give that back!" She yells as she runs over to him just as he waves his hand in a flurry of cards. There's a blinding light and she closes her eyes as she lays her hands on the crystal, and -
She lands with a thud. There's a heavy weight on her and she shrugs it off, stumbling to her feet almost immediately as she instinctively dusts her clothing down. Her eyes widen.
Phantom is next to her, one hand proffered to support her, but she ignores it in favour of looking about.
"Where are we?" Her surroundings are completely unfamiliar. "Did you just kidnap me?"
"We are on the Lumiere - my ship. And I did not kidnap you."
"Kidnapping is the unlawful taking away of a person against their will. This is against my will."
"Is it?"
"Yes. Return me the Skaia and bring me back to the Palace now." For a moment she's tempted to just let him leave with it, but she hasn't gone to the trouble only to have him appear and vanish as quickly.
Aria gives him her best Empress face. Hopefully it can hide all that shaking she's doing. It always works on Elena, but Phantom just chuckles and slips the Skaia into the folds of his robes.
"I am busy. As you can see, we are on the Lumiere, and there's work to be done."
"We are on the Lumiere. I demand you to return me back to the palace." A part of her begins to wonder whether it was a good idea to even tempt him in the first place.
"Gaston, bring me my schedule book."
A man dressed in a dapper suit hurries out. He holds out a book. "Here, Master Phantom."
"No." Phantom shakes his head. "When's my schedule free?"
"10 am later, sir."
"And what time is it now?"
"1.45, sir."
"I'll send you back at 10, then." Phantom looks at Aria. "Write that down in my schedule, Gaston. Block out 15 minutes for the Empress here."
"Wait. You kidnap the Empress of Ereve and you dare to keep me here for that long? When I return to the palace, I will-" Aria pauses, and watches as he removes his mask and sets it aside on a chair. He shakes his blonde hair free slightly. She lets out an involuntary gasp as he turns to face her.
His hair just about skims his eyes, an arresting amethyst colour that peeks out beneath the mess of blonde. He's also wearing a smile on his lips, his cheeks dimpling slightly.
"What? You've never seen a handsome man before?"
Aria sets her mouth in a thin line and crosses her arms, desperately trying to calm her accelerated heart rate down. "I demand you take me back now."
"You better make yourself comfortable, Your Highness. Gaston, prepare my bubble bath."
"Your bubble - I am the Empress of Ereve!" Aria snaps. Yet she can't help but find a certain humour in his words.
"And I am Master Thief Phantom. Who presently needs a good bath and a good night's rest. See to it that she's comfortable on the Lumiere." Two servants come over and bow at his command and start to lead her away.
"Wait-" Aria says, but Phantom has already made his way out of the main foyer they're standing in.
"Your Highness. This way, please."
"That insufferable -" she mutters, and catches the two servants grinning slightly. "What are you two smiling at?"
"Nothing." They demur quickly as they enter a room, as ornately furnished as the foyer. Aria watches by the doorway as they prop up cushions on a red and gold sofa and gesture for her to make herself comfortable. Reluctantly she makes her way to the sofa.
"Please remain here till tomorrow morning, Empress. We will be outside if you need us." The servants bow and make their way out, leaving her alone.
She shakes her head, and sits down cautiously. In the house of the Master Thief Phantom... She ought to be frightened, she really should be. But yet, she feels a slight rush of adrenaline course through her as she realises she is in the house of Master Thief Phantom. Or, more accurately, she's on his floating airship.
She looks about the room. It's not large by any means, which surprises her for she had always expected Phantom to live in a huge mansion befitting his ego. Perhaps the Lumiere, as he calls it, is but a temporary accommodation as he travels from one place to another to -
"Of course! That's how he does it." Aria mutters as she gets up. "He travels from place to place in this."
Interest piqued, Aria sets about satisfying her curiosity. The room may be small, but it's well furnished. A small bookcase adorns one wall, and the other wall holds an eclectic collection of paintings. A bay window allows her sight out of the otherwise windowless room. She takes one peek out and shudders, retreating back deeper into the safety of the room.
The sofa is the only furniture of real notice here, as Aria realises it's the size of a bed, even. Perhaps she's in a guest room of sorts. She shrugs.
Regardless, although the Skaia is no longer in her hands, she's gotten what she wanted. She's met Phantom, Master Thief extraordinaire, at long last, and she's willing to bet she's one of the only few outside the Lumiere whom he's ever revealed his face to. That blonde hair, and those deep, purple eyes -
Aria shakes her head. What surprises her instead is the fact that she's so nonchalant about her own kidnapping. She's the Empress of Maple World, abducted from her own balcony and onto the ship of an unknown stranger. Belatedly she realises she's not only put herself at risk, but the entire Maple World at risk.
Yet somehow, she muses as she trails a curious finger along the spines of the books on the shelf, she can't quite bring herself to stay mad at him. Phantom has taken the Skaia, and has abducted her, yet she's still able to laugh about her own plight.
Perhaps it's because he's so extraordinarily handsome and charming that she can't help but forgive his crimes? Aria thinks, and then laughs. That sounds like the only plausible explanation in the face of an evening with all caution and reason thrown to the wind. Heck, she's even gotten her wish to meet him.
Somehow she feels like she's toeing a dangerous line.
She opens the door slowly, and the waiting servants outside turn to face her. Aria stops at the doorway. "About Phantom -"
"Yes?"
"Does he stay here all the time?" She gestures vaguely about.
"Yes, Empress." The girl nods enthusiastically.
"Oh. Can I see him now?"
"I'm afraid he's asleep, already. Perhaps tomorrow morning."
"Perhaps." Aria raises an eyebrow.
"Do let us know if you need anything." They offer.
"I'm alright, thank you." Aria smiles, and closes the door behind her. She supposes a guided tour around the ship is out of the question, so she sits back down on the sofa.
She reaches up to touch the Skaia - and her fingers grasp at thin air, and she sighs. She's lost the Skaia, all because of her curiosity to meet the Master Thief in person. She's not sure how Elena will react. The Skaia may not actually be Ereve's most priceless treasure, but it's a valuable gem in itself, so losing it has never really been an option.
And now she's all but given it away as bait for the thief. Perhaps she can convince him again tomorrow morning. She stares at the ceiling, and despite her inner protests, soon falls asleep anyway.
"Empress." A familiar voice. A familiar, irritating voice. She sits up immediately and looks about. "It's 10."
Phantom is standing near her, his arms folded across his chest as he looks at her. His mask and cap are back on his head. Aria flushes and realises she's actually fallen asleep on the sofa in the end.
"I will bring you back to the palace now." He stretches out a hand for her. She ignores it as she stumbles to her feet, still slightly groggy. "You have to hold on to me for the spell to work, you know."
Ugh, that good-for-nothing, useless - his hands are surprisingly soft as he drags her to him, and in a flourish of cards and with a bright blinding light, they're back on her balcony.
He lets go of her almost immediately - faster than she would have done so - and takes a step back. He retrieves the Skaia and dangles it from the chain.
"Give that back." Aria reaches for it, but Phantom is quicker and he takes a step back.
"You know I didn't mean to steal it." He says.
"But you did." She stuck out a hand.
"I won't steal it without your permission." He inclines his head slightly as he drops the Skaia back into her outstretched palm. She can hardly believe he's handing the Skaia back to her - she can't understand why.
"Like I'll ever give you permission to steal the treasure of Ereve." She grabs hold of the crystal immediately, so tight that she can feel the gold filigree biting marks into her skin. She can feel relief flooding through her.
"We shall see about that. I'm persistent, just so you know. I'll be at the balcony, say, about 10 tomorrow evening?" He winks.
"I'll double the guards." She glares at him.
"I'm Phantom. No number of guards can deter nor stop me." He grins boyishly.
"I'll triple - no, quadruple it." She says quickly, and, somehow, she can't find it in herself to be mad at him. The fact that he's smiling seems to lighten his crime - somewhat. Aria can't stand that.
"As you wish, my lady. Until then." Phantom bows low, more gentlemanly and courtly than she can ever imagine, and takes a step back. He disappears in a flurry of cards, and Aria swallows as she makes her way forward, the Skaia still in her hands, biting into her skin. There's only one card left on the ground, and she picks it up.
It's embossed gold, as flashy and ostentatious as he is, but yet, refined somewhat, a checkered pattern of red and white with the motif of a mask. It looks identical to the one he had left for the King of Ariant. She flips it over to reveal an image of a crescent moon, signed with a flourish: Phantom.
"Back so soon?" Gaston looks at Phantom as he strides into the main foyer. "And you returned the Skaia?"
"Yes." Phantom removes his mask and cape and hands them to Gaston.
"Why?" The older man hangs the cape and mask nearby.
"'Why?' My dear Gaston, 'Why?' I love a challenge. It's too easy."
"You had your hands on the most valuable jewel in Maple World, and you just let it go." Gaston sniffs.
"I'll prefer if Empress Aria gives it to me herself. Willingly."
"You know she won't do that. Unless -" Gaston's eyes widen slightly. "You wish to see her again?"
"I have made my intentions clear. Yes, I'll be on her balcony at 10 tomorrow." Phantom grins. "And, yes, perhaps I do wish to see her again."