Anton held my hand as we walked into the meeting room. I had been instructed as we drove to the building, what to do and what not to do. Anton was trying to be polite but I could see he was stressing about it. I had to be polite and speak clearly, the councilors do not converse in light conversations or make jokes so don't bother trying to be funny or to make friends with them.

Staring was rude, I was about to face people that were from different dimensions and were not what I would expect.

He was right. I'd never seen a green person aside from in movies and those that wore body paint. But yes, there was a woman that was green. There was a man that had orange eyes and a beautiful mocha skin tone, darkening spots under his eyes. Another man that looked more built than Igor, whoever he was he was gorgeous. Long black hair laid over his chest, perfectly straight and not a hair out of place. I would kill to get hair that magnificent.

There was another woman, her skin tone was a pale fleshy pink like a human though this was a little more pink. Her eyes were pinned to me, an off colored silver that shimmered like glitter. At each end of the long table was two more men, one was tall. Unusually tall. He towered over the woman beside him, the top of her head was barely at his shoulder. The man was broad, he looked world-weary but had a spring about him that I couldn't understand.

They all looked rather refined and beautiful but none more than the man at the other end. He had a soft silvery hairstyle that resembled Elvis, his eyes a blue that was so pale it was nearly white. And he had a skin tone to match too.

In the center was a woman that looked human, flawless beauty with a defined cheekbones and a narrow nose. The pink pout twisted with what I guess was a smile but it looked more like something born from anger.

Each and every single one of them was dressed in red robes that looked like silk Kimonos. Anton said that for each and every phase of this proceeding there was an official dress. Yesterday it was in their finery, their official dimensional dress. I would have liked to have seen that.

The red was supposed to represent the giving over of our single status to become joined as one, blood for blood. Phase three was the joining of our souls, represented in a silvery robe.

For phase four it was black. Because the couple would be saying goodbye for a certain amount of time, many saw the robes as fitting, suggesting that they were similar to the robes death wore. Because yes, death was actually real. Not in the sense that people die but as in the grim reaper sense. Anton said that death wasn't a skeleton or anything gruesome underneath the robe, it was just an abyss of nothing that would suck you in if you weren't careful. It sent a shiver down my spine.

And finally, phase five. This was a purple robe that marked the celebration of the union of two people. I couldn't wait to see the purple robes and be at the end of this nonsense.

The room was rather dark and dreary, I couldn't help but wonder why they wouldn't open the curtains. It was such a lovely autumn day outside.

"Welcome, master Dremain and Miss Walters. Please, take a seat."

Anton guided me to the first of the two seats, I sat and hoped that all of my mother's ranting about sitting like a lady would pay off.

The woman in the center of the table had a notebook in front of her. I looked from the gavel in her hand to the stenographer in the corner and wondered when I had walked into a courtroom.

"The order of dimensional councilors has convened for this interview of Sarah Walters, the confirmed soul of master Anton Dremain. The interview is now in session."

She whacked that damned gavel onto the table and frightened the life out of me.

"Phase two consists of educating the subject of the order of the procedures from here. Master Dremain, have you discussed each of the phases with the subject?"

"Yes, I have."

The woman looked down at her notes, writing something down.

"You have listed the wedding date as this coming Saturday and that you are taking human transportation. We would like to know why."

"Well, I didn't want to drag Sarah and the luggage through the underworld for starters. I assumed that would be frowned upon by the council."

Anton's statement made the woman look at him with surprise, her eyebrows raising.

"And Sarah has never flown internationally before, I thought it would be a nice treat seeing as she will have to face phases three and four when we return."

"But that is the point master Dremain. When you return. When exactly is that?"

"Sunday. I wasn't aware that the council would be prepared to meet on a weekend. Am I wrong?"

Her lips twisted into a scowl as she narrowed her eyes at him. Clearly, she didn't like being outplayed.

"No, you are not. We wish to reiterate the charity work and the business venture items as discussed yesterday. Have you spoken to the subject about it?"

"Yes, we have discussed it and other options to fund her work. Sarah is happy to sell the first lot to start her charity work and encourage others to donate."

"Good. Now, we will start the proceedings. I ask Sarah Walters to answer in a clear and direct voice. Do you wish to accept your role as the soul and eternal partner of master Anton Dremain?"

"I do."

It sounded like a wedding service, geez. But that's what this was in a roundabout way. I'd effectively agreed to be his eternal partner. Eternal.