The elevator doors slid open after a few long minutes of ascending to the top floor. When Alex took in the sight before him, his mind went completely blank.
The room before them was breathtakingly gorgeous. Though the hall was wide, it was far smaller than the floor below. Its ceiling vaulted high above them, soaring like a cathedral's nave… no, it had to be a cathedral. It possessed an undeniable ecclesiastical grandeur, except instead of a bishop's throne at the altar, a cascading fountain stood proudly at the center, featuring a beautiful dancer posed with her arms raised toward the heavens as water poured from her fingertips.
The walls appeared stone-textured, yet they were smooth and cool to the touch, like a mixture of polished marble and quartz. Alex wasn't exactly an expert in stone materials, but that was the closest thing he could compare it to."Masters, welcome to EUPHEIN."
'Uh-huh…' The beautiful club… banquet hall, really. This place looked nothing like the clubs he usually went to. Huge windows lined the walls, letting the glowing city outside spill its light into the hall. Some windows were open, allowing soft winds to drift in.
Alex was completely taken aback. Yet his thoughts kept getting interrupted by someone repeatedly calling him Master. He ignored it. Compared to this place, the floor below looked cheap, like plastic decorations next to diamonds. 'To think something like this existed just above… dang it.
Then again, this is Rouge we're talking about. I've been to beautiful places too… not this beautiful, but close enough.'
His thoughts stopped when someone stepped into his line of sight. All the boys let out a small groan; it seemed Alex wasn't the only one stunned into silence.
"Masters, welcome to EUPHEIN. If you would follow me."
"Uh-huh…" the boys said in unison. In front of them stood another gentleman wearing a rabbit mask. A black one this time. His clothes were black from head to toe as well.
"Yes, show us the way," Michael said, snapping out of the daze first. The others followed soon after.
As they walked behind the rabbit-masked man, Alex couldn't help noticing how everyone in the hall was dressed in strikingly elegant fabrics and expensive jewelry. It made him suddenly self-conscious about his own outfit. 'How am I supposed to compare to these people…?'
After all, these guests were probably the richest in the country, maybe even from other nations entirely. Some of the gentlemen and ladies glanced at the boys as they passed.
"My apologies, Masters," the rabbit-masked man said softly. "We were unable to greet you at the proper entrance earlier. For this event, I will be your personal butler. Please leave everything to me." The boys merely nodded.
After a few minutes, they arrived at their table in the back. It was empty except for name tags indicating their seats. Alex raised an eyebrow. 'When did they get my name for this?'
"Please have a seat and enjoy your feast before the event begins," the butler said. He picked up a white slip of paper from the table. "Is there anything the Masters would like to order?"
Malik spoke first. "Yeah. I'd like a drink." The rabbit-masked man scribbled something down. "Any particular drink, Master?"
Malik thought for a few seconds. "Anything refreshing would be great, and some food, i dont care what, choose whatever is the best for me." The man nodded. "Anything else, Masters?" he asked, gesturing to the rest.
Noah ordered a steak but didn't care what type of meat. The butler assured him it would be the best of the best. Michael also wanted a steak—but added honey. Daniel frowned at that. Even Alex broke into a small sweat. Honey was extremely rare, with bees nearly extinct. Even artificial honey was expensive to produce. Tasting it meant spending a massive amount of money.
Daniel wanted wine. Alex also wanted some, but chose to order a steak like the others.
The butler jotted everything down, bowed slightly, and said, "Masters, I will return shortly. In the meantime" he took out a small golden bell from his pocket and placed it on the table, "just ring this, and I will come immediately." Then he left.
"Say, Michael… how come our names were already prepared on these seats? Did you or your acquaintances reserve them beforehand?" Daniel asked.
Michael thought for a moment, then shrugged. "Nope. I just asked to borrow the floor. They probably reserved it for us."
'They…? Was that a slip-up? Nope he said he was his sister boyfriend' Alex glanced at Daniel, whose intense staring hadn't stopped since they arrived. Alex sighed.
'When he said we were coming to a club, I didn't expect a rich-people's banquet. I hope this is all part of the birthday surprise and not something dangerous…'
His attention drifted to another table. Sitting there was a beautiful woman in a pitch-black mask. Her long shadowy hair flowed over her shoulders like a waterfall. Even with a mask, her beauty was hard to hide.
'She kinda reminds me of… uh… who was it again? Damn, she's really attractive. Maybe I should talk to her later…' "Alex, did you hear me?" Noah snapped him back to reality. "Uh, sorry, could you repeat that?"
"I said I got a gift for you." Noah handed Alex a small coin. Alex blinked a few times, raising an eyebrow at the unattractive little thing. "What… is this for?"
Noah grinned proudly. "A free weekly bowl of noodles from my dad." 'No way… no way.' Alex stared at the coin as if it were the most precious treasure on earth. Michael narrowed his eyes. "Hey why does he get one and not us?"
Noah glanced at him, then looked away dramatically. "What do you think, buddy? Better than what he gave you, right?"
Alex continued glaring at the coin like it was a legendary artifact. After several long moments, he carefully slipped it into his pocket, then cautiously looked around to make sure no one was watching. Of course, all the boys were watching him.
He cleared his throat and nodded at Noah, who was still smiling proudly. Daniel cleared his throat loudly, and when everyone turned to him, before he could speak he was interrupted by servers arriving with the food and drinks. Once they left, Daniel said, "I'll tell you once we're out of here."
Alex nodded, then looked at Malik, who was already eating without shame, before starting on his own steak.
...
After a long while and many plates, the boys were sprawled in their chairs, too full to move.
'Ahh… what a great night. I wish today would never end.' The glowing city seen through the enormous windows made everything feel even more surreal.
"I can't believe we stuffed ourselves," Michael groaned. "We should've eaten lightly here…" Malik shrugged. "It was a great food to be eaten. Can you hand me a napkin?"
'He's right. The food was insanely good… even though I'm full, I kinda wanna take some home. Would they let us?' Alex wondered.
Before he could continue entertaining the thought, sound of a glass being tapped echoed through the hall. Everyone's attention turned toward the fountain.
A man wearing a golden mask stood before it. He was well dressed, with a beautifully kept beard that was hard not to admire.
"Ladies and gentlemen, I'm the host tonight and I hope you're all having a wonderful evening…" He paused.
He then lifted a small glass vial filled with a glowing green liquid while speaking in a soft voice. "Allow me to introduce a project still in its trial stages. An elixir designed to temporarily elevate the human body beyond its natural limits. Strength, speed, and endurance increased several-fold. Its effects last only a few hours, and the final stage of development is still underway." The boys were fascinated, 'an actual drink that enhanced the human body?'
The man then sighed before continuing "But there are minor side effects, of course. After the effect fades, the body enters a recovery state, anywhere from one to three days of deep sleep, depending on the individual and dosage. Beyond that, I cannot share further details."
Then, with a graceful wave of his hand, the host said:
"And now, as gratitude for your presence tonight, each of you will receive a complimentary sample. Consider it a gesture of appreciation from our establishment."
…
"So it was all about this? Just drinking it and I'll be able to sleep for three days?" Noah pointed at his elixir, unimpressed.
Michael shook his head. "It's not just some sleeping drink, Noah." He sighed.
"So the entire event was to show off their new 'Proto-Elixir,' or whatever. Once this gets perfected and released, the whole world's gonna lose its mind."
"Yeah… I guess," Noah said. Then he turned to the group. "Hey guys, um… I wanna show you something."
Noah then pulled out his glass device and held it toward them. "Doesn't that host look suspiciously like this guy?"
On-screen was a blond-haired man with a neat beard, looking to be in his early thirties. He had a thin smile and dark circles under his eyes.
'Isn't that the CEO of Xyrenix? Julian Cross…? Now that I think about it, they do look alike.' Alex glanced at the elixir, then shook his head.
'Nah. Not even a nuclear missile could break through that sphere. How could a body human do it? But if they are able to develop something like this to it full potential with no side effects, this might be our only way out of this cage' Alex then looked outside at the startless, termiborous sky, darkly.