The door opened slowly, hinges creaking, and sunlight flooded the warehouse with force. The three raised their arms to protect their eyes, blinking furiously.
When Constant could see through the light, there was a silhouette in the entrance. An old man, very old, with completely white hair and beard that fell in unruly waves. If he had red clothes, he would be Santa Claus.
Raid let out a muffled sound, shrinking further into the corner. His eyes darted between the old man and the door, but unlike the initial panic in the warehouse, this was a contained fear his body tense, breath held, clearly wanting to be anywhere else.
Keiko took a step forward, placing herself between the old man and the boys. Her fists rose in that wrong but determined stance. "Stay away! I'll scream! I know how to fight!"
It was obviously a lie, but she held the pose.
Constant had stood up when the door opened, positioning himself where he could see both the old man and the door. His eyes didn't leave the man, noticing his relaxed posture, empty hands, and his curious but non-threatening expression.
The old man didn't seem intimidated. His eyes scanned each of them with genuine interest. He raised his hands slowly, palms facing them in a gesture of peace.
And then he began to speak.
The words were completely wrong. Sounds that made no sense, strange syllables the human mouth shouldn't produce. Constant had heard different languages in school English, Spanish but this was something else entirely.
And yet... he understood. Perfectly.
"Calm down, children," the old man was saying, and Constant could hear those alien sounds while simultaneously understanding the meaning. "I have no intention of hurting you. If I wanted to, I would have done it while you slept. Why wake you first?"
Keiko had lowered her fists a little, total confusion on her face. "How... am I understanding you? Are you guys hearing this too? He's not speaking Portuguese!"
"Me too," Constant admitted, his voice coming out shaky. He took a deep breath. "I hear strange sounds. But I understand the meaning."
From the corner, Raid whispered: "Me too. Don't... don't like it. S-something's wrong."
The old man nodded as if this were normal. "The Blessing of Comprehension. All Mystics receive it. Makes things simpler, doesn't it?"
"Mystics?" Keiko asked, hysteria beginning to appear. "What are you talking about? Where are we? How did we get here?"
Constant cut in before despair could overwhelm her. "Please. Just tell us where we are."
The old man studied them, his expression growing more serious. "You deserve answers." He gestured to the open door. "But not here. Come with me. The sunlight will do you good, and there's a more comfortable place for us to talk."
He waited, not forcing.
The three looked at each other. Keiko whispered: "What if it's a trap?"
Constant thought. Staying wouldn't help. The old man was right if he wanted to hurt them, he would have already. And there were the stars, the unknown language, and how they all ended up here...
"Staying here won't give us answers," Constant said. "And I need to know what happened."
Keiko bit her lip. "Alright. But we stay together. The three of us. Always." She looked firmly at Constant and then at Raid, as if sealing a pact not just with words, but with her gaze.
"I agree," Constant said.
"Yes," Raid murmured.
After a final moment of hesitation, Constant took the first step. His legs trembled, but he forced them to walk. He passed the old man, who politely stepped aside, and walked out into the light.
The light hit his face like a physical slap. Constant closed his eyes, raising his hand to create some shade. He blinked several times until he could see.
The air was different. Cleaner, lighter, but it lacked the smell he most associated with the last few months: the resinous pine of the forest and the damp mold of the cabin. Each breath seemed easier...
The heat of the sun was genuine, soaking into his skin, warming his aching muscles.
When his vision adjusted, he saw where he was.
A village. Small, built on a hill. A wave of disorientation hit Constant as his brain processed the scene.
There were no buildings. Only low houses of wood and stone with tiled roofs. There were no light poles, electric wires, antennas, nothing of modern technology. The streets were packed dirt. Smoke rose from chimneys the smell of burning wood, not gas.
The people... everyone wore strange clothes. The men in simple tunics or shirts made of a sack-like fabric, thick and unrefined, with wide pants. The women in long dresses of earthy tones brown, beige, moss green, gray. None of the jeans or soft cotton he knew; these fabrics were rustic, faded from use, many with visible patches and dirt stains.
A woman near them carried a woven basket full of grains. She wore a nearly white linen dress, but stained with dirt at the hem, with an apron tied at her waist. When she saw them, she stopped completely. Her eyes widened.
Several other people stopped to look. A man dropped a tool. Two barefoot children stood still, pointing.
Constant felt his face grow hot. He hated being watched like this.
And then he saw something impossible.
Near a house, a woman was working with a barrel of water. But she wasn't using any tools.
The water was floating.
Small perfect spheres, perhaps the size of oranges, suspended in the air. Five, six of them, spinning slowly. The woman moved her hands in gentle gestures and the spheres responded by floating to plant pots where they divided into droplets that fell onto the soil.
Constant blinked. Closed his eyes. Opened them.
The water was still floating.
Behind him, Keiko had come out. "Constant? Where are the cars? The lights? The poles? This looks like..."
"Medieval," Constant murmured. "Like the Middle Ages."
"But there's floating water," Raid whispered, his voice thin. He had come out too, staying very close to Constant. "Water can't fly."
"I know," Constant said.
It was then, almost against his will, that he looked up.
The sky was blue. Beautiful, clear, cloudless.
But the sun had a blue ring around it.
Not an illusion. Not an atmospheric halo. A solid ring, perfectly circular, of an impossible vibrant blue electric blue, neon blue, a blue that didn't exist in nature. It completely encircled the sun, perfectly centered, perfectly uniform.
Constant stood still, mouth half open, unable to process. His brain searched for explanations and found none. Earth's sun didn't have a ring. It couldn't. It was impossible.
But there it was.
"My God..." Keiko whispered behind him, the words coming out shocked. "That's not possible."
Raid made a low sound, no longer a moan, but a strangled sigh. Constant looked and saw the boy completely pale, eyes fixed on the sky. But unlike before in the warehouse, Raid didn't panic. He just stood there, frozen, processing the impossible with an expression of mute shock.
"That's not..." Keiko tried again, her voice rising. "The sun doesn't have... IT'S NOT LIKE THAT! THE SUN DOESN'T HAVE A BLUE RING!"
Her voice broke at the end. She had her hands on her head, pulling her hair. "The sun is yellow! No rings! NO BLUE RINGS!"
People in the village moved away from the shout, but others approached, whispering among themselves: "poor children," "they must be confused," "have they never seen the sun?"
Constant felt the panic growing, that feeling that everything was crumbling. But he had to maintain control, well... at least try. Raid was frozen beside him, clearly overwhelmed but not collapsing. Keiko was seconds from breaking down.
"We're not on Earth," Constant heard his own voice say, mechanical, emotionless. "This isn't our world. It's another place."
The words made everything real. Undeniable.
The old man had observed everything in silence. When he spoke, his voice was gentle but heavy: "No, children. It's not your world. Welcome to Excelsior."