They stepped into a room that wasn't a room at all because there were no walls nor ceiling. Trevor saw a floor that led off to forever and a sky as blue as an Easter egg, as well as a sky black and filled with stars, as well as a sky flashbulb white dotted with black stars. The slick floor they stood on looked made of polished marble. Stairways led to floors above and below. At that point, Trevor just stopped being overwhelmed. He decided that, from then on, he'd just let his senses take it all in, then try to make rational sense out of it all later. 

​     Artwork more advanced and complex than anything found on Earth hung from poles.

     "I could get lost for hours looking at those," Malika said.

     "I'd love to bring a few home with me," Anne said. "Accommodate me, Francis. I'd love you forever."

     "We'll see," Francis replied. "After all, today is a day for dreams to come true."

​     "You want to hear something crazy?" Helen asked. "I'm thinking about the kids."

     "Me, too," Trevor replied. "And you're right, it's crazy."

     "Let's go crazy together."

     "It's a deal."

​     "Who are they?" Cole exclaimed

     Who he pointed at intrigued everyone else as well, although everyone else was polite enough not to blurt out anything.

     They were people, no doubt about it. Humans.

     Malika's consciousness had to rise to properly access what she perceived. 

     They stood exactly the same height, right around four feet. Malika saw not a single hair on any of them. They all dressed the same, in what looked to be shiny pajamas. Some were male and some were female, Malika knew, but, at first, she couldn't guess which was which. The expressions on their faces were even the same, a sort of expectant half smile. If they passed any of the new arrivals, they would smile and nod in greeting, but not speak. Malika heard no conversation amongst any of them.   

     Here's where Malika had to shift her thinking:

     They're Asians, she thought. The ancestors of these people were originally from the continent of Asia.

     But, no, nope, that kind of thinking had to stop right there. These humans, these people, were not from her Earth at all even as they, themselves, were now nowhere near their own Earth.

     "This better not be any sort of trap," Cole Harper said. "I am an officer of the law, and, if anything happened to me, all hell would..."

​     Francis said. "I know this may be hard for you to comprehend, Cole, but we are beyond time and space. My friends are, indeed, in response to any unspoken questions that may be asked, human, but they are not humans from your timeline. In the war against The Fours, they were known as The Azure, and they existed as Infini's finest fighting force."

     "But what are they doing here?" Cole asked.

     "They're here for the same reason we're all here," Francis replied. "To celebrate, to party."

     "They give me the creeps. Why won't they stop smiling? Why won't they say something?"

     I hate my brother so fucking much, Trevor thought. Shut the fuck up, Cole.

CONTINUE