Beyond the Empyreal Stars

27.

27.

Groggy from sleep, Odette pushed herself up from her cot at the sound of the door to her cell opening. Voices followed and she was able to make out who they were before even seeing their faces.

"Duke's going to kill you for this, babe...which just makes me love you all the more for going against his orders," Carson laughed.

"You think I care?" Lizzie snorted. "He needs to get over his little mood he's been in since you got back."

"I wouldn't call that a little mood," Padric spoke then.

The three of them, plus Nova and Bas, appeared in the doorframe. All eyes went directly to Odette and widened before Nova rushed forward.

"Are you all right?" she questioned. "When they said you were not eating..."

"I am fine," she nodded, reaching out to hold her friend's hand. "I was...snapped out of my trance. I am fine now."

"Graham made her eat something," Lizzie smiled from the doorway. "Both of us went against Duke's direct orders...and both of us really don't care."

"What are you doing here anyway?" Odette asked, looking around at the five of them. "I thought we were supposed to be held in here for..."

"Duke's got his head up his ass and won't listen to us," Carson cut in. "So we're taking matters into our own hands. If you guys are held in here for any longer, the people will really start thinking you're up to no good. But if we ease you into society..."

"Well, they'll get used to the idea of having you around," Lizzie finished. "Carson and I are going to show you around. Then we need to take you to the infirmary so Sara, the head doctor, can take a look at you and make sure you're all right. Tansy did before, but we just want to double check."

Padric, who was leaning against the metal wall, turned his head to sniff his shoulder. "Any way we can get cleaned up, too?" he asked, wrinkling his nose. "We don't smell really good."

She nodded. "That was first on the list."

After Odette put her Paragon jacket back on, leaving it unbuttoned, the six of them left the holding area and out into the main concourse of Grand Central. Dozens of people were walking around or talking with others. When they realized who passed, silence went through the crowd as they headed for the stone steps to the balcony level.

"We use this space as a common area," Lizzie informed them, pointing to the tables and chairs that were spread out on the eastern side and then the open space beyond it. She slowed them to a stop. "Everyone's just getting up to start the day. Over there..." She pointed past the tables toward an opening with 'Grand Central Market' above it. "We've made it into the kitchen and laundry areas. The doors leading out to the street have been reinforced with the same magnetic locked doors as the holding cells."

She pointed to another opening then, with 'Lexington Passage' over the arch. "We've turned Lexington Passage into the infirmary and supplies storage areas. Half of it was destroyed during the second war, but we were able to build a wall to close it off. We'll go there in a little while to get you guys checked out, like I said before."

Lizzie and Carson, hand-in-hand, led them through the common area, once more headed for the balcony level steps.

Odette made eye contact with every one of the humans she could. Most looked on with wide eyes and wondering why the Terrians were out of the holding cells, walking through the common area. They whispered to each other, mostly about just who these Terrians were. The humans were well-informed as to who the Paragon, Guardians Five and Six, and the Commanding Agent were.