A shrill beeping pierced into Sylvia's dreams, pulling her awake. She yawned lightly, stretching out a hand to shut off the alarm. She sat up on the bed, working up the will to stand.

Sylvia brushed twice daily; early when she rose at four and late before she went to bed at ten. She had to keep a tight schedule, caring for both herself and her brother tended to be time-consuming.

Icy cold water sprayed from the shower onto her body, washing away the desire to return to bed. She would rather not have to wake up this early but there needed to be food on the table for Horatio. To Sylvia, her brother was everything.

She had to be there for Horatio and Nora, written deep into her mind, she was their only lifeline. She thought of her family; her parents who were long gone, just up and left one day never coming back, Horatio was too young to have understood then and she made sure he didn’t find out even now. She would go through anything for him, no matter the cost.

After showering Sylvia usually readied breakfast, both for her and her little brother. She always ended the task at five-thirty, today was no exception, habits taking precedence over the fact Horatio would not be going to school and will be sleeping in. Or perhaps she simply forgot. She whistled a tune to herself as she moved towards his bedroom. Sylvia knocked thrice on his door, waiting for a response.

"Of course he's still asleep." She complained, tying her hair into a neat ponytail.

Sylvia pushed the door handle. It wasn't locked. She opened the door, entering the unkempt room. She took a look around and there was no-one in there. "Horatio?" She called.

Bright rays of sunlight jabbed at Horatio. He groaned, consciousness returning to him. His eyes flickered open and he took a moment to adjust to the light. Horatio's face contorted with confusion noticing his blurry vision was refusing clear up. He raised his hand to try and rub his eyes but was stopped by searing pain from inside his flesh. He cried out, throbbing pain coming from within his right arm.

"Please remain still, your healing is not yet complete." A mature female voice advised. Horatio gazed in its direction, seeing only a red blotch against a bright background.

"Margulis?" He asked. In the coming moments Horatio slowly saw his eyesight return and the aching pain over his body recede. The red blotch became clearer, Horatio saw a woman before him, her features remarkably similar to Margulis' yet several years older.

"Who are you, where am I?" Horatio asked, looking around the room he saw several other women, their hair and eyes together forming a bedazzling rainbow. 'What the hell?' He thought.

"I am Hetlia Remshall Toldaap, the head of the Toldaap family." Margulis' look-alike said. "You are currently in the Toldaap mansion." She informed.

Horatio gave a wry smile. 'What kind of people call their house a mansion?’ He thought to himself. 'But these people, the way they look. Could they be like me?'.

During the earlier battle that Margulis, Horatio realised she was also under the effects of the condition, reaping its unnatural benefits. He did not expect this many people like him. Seven women were in the room, all but one looked to be carriers of the condition.

"Horatio Peppingar." Hetlia continued, her voice rising in pitch "My daughter told me a lot about you, especially how brave you were last night." she smiled at him. Horatio's eyes moved about the room once again, making note of the things around.

"Brave?" Horatio cocked an eyebrow, now paying attention to Hetlia's statement. Perhaps he had yet made a good impression on Margulis.

"Yes, very brave. Even without any armaments, you stood against a troll. A human without any help!" Hetlia continued to wax lyrical of Horatio's supposed feats. He blushed. Being praised like this had him embarrassed.

"What about Margulis?" Horatio diverted attention "Is she okay?" As much as it was a distraction he still felt responsible in some was for any harm done to her- in a silly white knight kind of way. 'Wait a minute.' He thought as he listened to Hetlia's words, ‘Of course I'm human, why would she need to state something like that?' He questioned himself. He had a feeling his knowledge was about to deepen soon, when and where, he was unsure.

"Margulis, compared to you, is completely fine." Hetlia said, her tone came calm and composed. Horatio decided to take that as good news. "She even lugged you all the way here, apart from minor serration wounds she was also majorly exhausted and void drained!" Hetlia's voice had risen again. Horatio paled, realising the woman was a sucker for acts of bravery.

"Void drained?" Horatio propped himself up on his elbows. Against his question Hetlia smiled and signaled to the others, they began to leave. She turned and said "Unfortunately I cannot answer any more of your questions, only Margulis has that right now." then left with the group.

Horatio sat in silence. He expected his head to be full of questions but he was surprisingly calm. 'Margulis' he thought, he realised he had stepped into a world he couldn't just leave.

Horatio got out of bed, finding his clothes repaired and cleaned. He pushed through the lingering fatigue, he had to find Margulis.

The familiar ping of a psionic pulse passed through Horatio. His ping fount at least fifty other individuals. Surprisingly still it did not leave the building before reaching its maximum range. He noticed, that just outside the room, a person stood. Cautiously he opened the door to find one of the women, the last one who did not seem to be under the condition, as her hair was brown. She was waiting for him.

"If you're ready," She said "I will take you to Margulis."

Horatio nodded.

"Follow me." She said.

Horatio was led to Margulis' room. Through the short journey he picked up on a few things about the building he was in. He noticed that no matter how far they walked, the view from the windows stayed the same, he realised the building was absolutely massive, such that they had walked for quite some time before coming to Margulis' door. He had many, many questions and hoped this girl would be able to answer them.

Horatio took in measured breaths trying to calm his nerves. He didn't want to make a fool of himself before Margulis. He had started off right, and that meant he had to continue that way. He knocked softly "Margulis?" he called out.

"Please come in." Margulis' voice came through the door. Horatio obeyed, closing the door behind him.

Once inside Horatio immediately mapped out the space. Margulis' room measured fifty by forty-two feet, minimalistic in design with a stereotypic pink as its theme. Within the room was a medium-sized work desk nestled in its farthest corner, towards the desk's right was a filled bookshelf. In the right corner was a king-sized bed that seemed to have been occupied recently. The frontmost areas of the room were near empty save for a large wardrobe taking a sizeable chunk of space. The walls also bore the same barrenness. The floors were covered by a fitted carpet that was unsurprisingly pink. He was not sure how he would use the information, just that it might be important.

Horatio giggled at the cute display, silently remarking how much cleaner the room was to his, and how much more pleasant smelling. But Margulis wasn't in here.

Horatio heard a click as another door in the left wall of the room opened and out stepped Margulis, her shapely body covered in only a towel.

Horatio stepped back in surprise, his face flushed with colour and he looked away. "Good morning, Margulis." He greeted, careful not to look at her.

"Good morning Horatio. You seem to be doing well." Margulis said. In Horatio's peripheral vision, he saw her defined feet across the room, moving towards the bed, where she sat.

"You should take a seat." Horatio jumped, looking up at Margulis. Did she want him to sit by her, on the bed? Horatio cleared his thought surreptitiously.

"Sorry?" He said. He looked at her beautiful face. Her hair shimmered with particles of water that still clung to it, evidence of a recent bath. He felt another wave of heat flush his face.

She angled her head, giving him a quizzical look. Their eyes met and Horatio blushed even redder. He pinched himself trying to steady his mind. Margulis grinned.

"I did mean for you to take a seat on the chair over there," She pointed towards a padded chair that sat before the work desk in the corner. The smile crept more over her face, she crossed her legs slowly, taking her time before speaking again. "But if you so desire, then you're welcome to a seat beside me." She tapped the side of the bed. Her grin devolved into an erotic smirk.

Horatio blushed, he looked her over, her defined curves showed through the thick towel that circled her. Too short to cover her entirety it left her thighs exposed. Horatio could even see her cleavage.

"The chair is fine." He said, almost tripping over his words. Margulis chuckled, "Though, your face says something different." She teased. "Don't worry, I won't bite." She said and smiled at him again. He said, nothing, noting that his prior impression was most likely shattered by now. He shook his head, sitting down firmly at her desk.

"I have some questions Margulis." He said.

Margulis giggled, she rested her head on the back of laced fingers. "I'm sure you have, but let's not rush things, after all, the journey is as much as important as the destination" she said. "How are you holding up after last night?" She asked.

Horatio looked down at himself, flexing his wrists. "I feel fine, mostly." He replied. He could still feel aches in his hand and leg he had attacked with. He was sure they had been permanently damaged that night, yet now they worked without a hitch. "What about you?" He questioned, "You were bleeding badly last night."

"How kind of you, Horatio. I'm fine as well, would you like to see?" She said teasingly and leaned forward just enough to let Horatio see her cleavage. He looked away, the blush on his face unmistakeable.

"Can you stop messing around Margulis?" Horatio said, "I need an explanation before I go home, this stuff has to do with the condition, doesn't it?"

"The condition?" Margulis questioned, an incredulous look on her face.

Horatio blanked, “Well, you see we both are similar, aren't we.” he asked.

“Not at all.” Margulis remarked, sitting straight. “In fact, I’d wager there's less in common between us than with a regular human.” Her eyes met his, a studious gaze.

"You’re losing me." Horatio recoiled, "If this isn't about the condition then what could it be?" He questioned, "And those monsters, the goblins or whatever, you can't possibly be telling me that these things are unrelated." Horatio was frantic.

This narrative has been purloined without the author's approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.

"They aren't unrelated. but the condition, that's a hoax, a lie by one of you people in order to get humans off our tail."

"Again with the 'human' thing. What the hell are you if not human!?" He yelled.

"Getting all riled up won't help you here Horatio, just shut up and listen." Margulis spat back. Horatio glared at her.

"What the hell did you say?" He questioned, rising to his feet.

"Don't make me have to do this Horatio." Margulis warned, raising her hand. A sigil appeared before it, depicting thorny bramble.

'That won’t work.' Horatio thought, jumping back out of the sigil's effective range, "I can read your spells Margulis." He taunted.

"I know." She replied and the sigil switched, changing form to depict dark rending claws. They shot out faster than he could react to and grabbed him, holding his arms down and lifting him off the ground.

Margulis remained where she sat, her face showing her dissatisfaction. "Don't make me regret picking you Horatio, have some patience and we can find common ground." She said. Horatio struggled against the claws. He was powerless but would not give in. He tried for several seconds, and Margulis let him. She sat there, waiting for him to calm down.

"Dammit Margulis, let me down!" He demanded. Margulis was indifferent.

"Not until I'm convinced you'll listen." She said.

"Oh I'll listen alright, listen to your cries of pain!" He shouted down. Margulis sighed, and with one motion caused the claws to clamp down tighter.

"This spell is meant to crush my foes, you're only still alive because I don't consider you an enemy, don't make yourself one." She advice tiredly.

"Alright alright, I'll listen!" Horatio yelled, his pain, obvious within it. "Please, I'm serious!" He begged. Margulis believed him, and released the pressure, but did not let him down.

"I'm going to be explaining from the beginning Horatio. Be a good listener, and I will let go of you." She said, "I don't want to do this but I just can't seem to guarantee my safety with you." She said. Horatio looked away with a "Tsk." but said nothing else.

"Before the very birth of the universe, that is where our tale begins, with a being of endless power. This being, at one point, made this world and some things that used to be in it. He then named it 'Hhurondinhner'. Which meant 'complete' in its tongue." She paused to look in Horatio's eyes, he gave her a nod.

"Keep going." He said gruffly. She did nothing but keep his gaze for a moment, then continued normally.

"Hhurondinhner was the being's pride and joy, but something went wrong. incompatibility."

Horatio gave her a skeptical look that said all he wanted to.

Margulis flashed him a smile, "Just like what's between me and you, my friend." Horatio scowled at her.

"I said I'm sorry, I just got a little heated is all." He said, shifting blame.

"So you agree that you're at fault?" She asked, Horatio mumbled something away from her. "Horatio?" She called.

"Yes, yes, I’m at fault." He said deflated. Margulis chuckled.

"That's alright, you should know to accept your mistakes." She said. "Let's make a deal. I'll let you go on the condition you grovel before me and apologise." She offered with a laugh.

"You can't be serious. Cut the crap." Horatio bit back.

"Oh but I am, very, very serious." She said. Horatio growled under his breath, made another tsk sound then spoke "Fine, I'll do it."

Margulis graciously let Horatio down, the claws letting go of him but not disappearing. He stood there for a moment, his fists clenched and a shameful blush on his face.

"I'm waiting Horatio." Margulis said, urging him on. Stiffly, he stepped forwards to her then dropped to one knee, then another, then he dropped down to his palms, his head bowed.

"I'm sorry Margulis." He said quietly. Margulis harrumphed. She would have liked him to say it with more feeling but she knew his fuse was short.

"Apology...accepted," She said. Horatio rose, his face red with an ambiguous blush. Margulis smiled, "Don't tell me you liked that." She said.

"I did not." He said quietly. Margulis giggled, "Liar." She said. Margulis giggled, grabbing him by his hand she pulled him on to the bed with her, pulling the covers over them.

"I think we're just might be compatible," she said with a powerful grin.

"Wait, what- Margulis, this is-" Horatio stuttered, shocked by the suddenness of her action. Eventually, he was shushed by Margulis. She smiled, visibly pleased by Horatio's inexperience.

"Don't worry, I won't do anything you don't want me to." She shifted in the dim light, raising her hand she pulled at the sides of her towel, loosening it. "But I can do all you want me to." She said and stuck out her tongue.

Horatio remained silent, he looked down, away from Margulis. "I...I don't think we should do this. You should only do something like that with someone you love..." Margulis paused in silence, then giggled, then let out a full laugh. Horatio looked up in confusion as she wiped a tear from her eye.

"C'mon, c'mon I was just pulling your leg! Haha, I didn't think you were so innocent, oh my." Margulis laughed.

"Innocent? I'm just saying that I-"

"Don't worry your little head about that. I won't mess with you if that's what you want." She said wiping a tear from her eye. She chuckled, "Alright, lets continue with the rest of the story. You will be interested in what comes next."

"Next?"

"Yes. I talked about incompatibility, the thing that was wrong with the world, the one that doomed it to failure." Margulis' jaw tightened, Horatio knew whatever she said next would be very important. He readied himself.

"To protect his creation, Hhurondinhner, the being wiped out all living things," Margulis said sadly.

Horatio's jaw went slack. He was prepared, but not for this. "All of them?"

"Yes, every single one. Please do remember this, it serves as the basis of what's coming next." Margulis informed.

"But how are we here then? If the being wiped us all out?" Horatio asked.

"The being pondered for a while and came up with a plan. He created six other worlds and blessed each with a unique elemental energy. Fire for Io, water for Aquidonia, earth for Atlas and wind for Corm Proxima, the lowest of the realms. The other two were light for Celestine and darkness for Umbra." Horatio nodded slowly. He yelped as Margulis pinched his sides.

"Don't be so worried. You don't need to remember all these, at least not now." she said.

"Please just continue." He replied, mildly annoyed Margulis would think he couldn't remember something so simple. He did not show it anyway, lest he was deprived of the fantastic situation he was in.

Margulis continued her tale, leaving her hand resting on Horatio's side.

"The being then began his work. Carefully he continued his creation in the lesser worlds. Diligently, he observed his creations, cautiously integrating those he approved of into his true, complete world he finally remade, that made the realms seven, an important number."

"Now, listen carefully," Margulis' words drew Horatio’s attention from her body to her lips, their fullness a sort of succour to his soul.

"The being then created a space between the worlds, a veil of sorts, a jelly to separate them. At the same time, he fused them into the same space, creating the seven realms. It was at this point he made his worker race, empowered by the veil to carry out his will. They policed the space, preventing unauthorised travel between the worlds while helping those given permission to move from realm to realm

"That space was known as the Void and the race, the Voidwalkers." She said.

Margulis' hand searched for Horatio's. He blushed as she brought them up between their faces. She clasped it with her other hand and stared into Horatio with pure sincerity, the kind The Analyst told him could not be faked.

"We are Voidwalkers." She said and paused to study Horatio's face. It was blank. "The powers you have and your green hair are gifts from the void." She said.

Horatio found no fallacy in her speech, he knew for a fact that she was telling the truth. He gulped, his face twisting up in confusion. "I can't be a Voidwalker Margulis, my parents are human." He said.

"They must have not told you. Just ask the one you think has the condition, they'll tell you." She instructed. Horatio pushed back then looked away, his face sullen.

"My parents are dead Margulis. They died in a car crash before I was old enough to remember them. But from the pictures I've seen of them, neither had the condition, they were normal people." He said.

"That means they weren't your parents." Margulis said.

"Margulis, don't." Horatio warned.

"Sorry." She said. Horatio sighed.

"My sister has silver hair, but she was surprised by my abilities so she can't be one of us." He said.

"But I'm sure of it Horatio, everyone I know with your symptoms is a Voidwalker, you can't possibly be just a human." She said. "There must be some way you're one of us."

Horatio shook his head. "Assuming all this is true-"

"It is!" Margulis interjected. Horatio continued.

"I know that, yet assuming it's perfectly true, and like you said, I am a Voidwalker, just like you. I don't know if I'll be able to help you with what you're doing here." He confessed.

"We're protecting the world Horatio, not just here, but everywhere else. This is bigger than just the two of us. If we can't prevent things like that from coming through to this side than our world will get overrun. The people we love will end up hurt or dead. Don't just think about this in a small way Horatio, I'm begging you. I need you and the world does as well." Margulis pleaded.

"I don't know if I'm capable." He protested.

Horatio stopped when he felt his hands lightly pressed by Margulis. He looked up and into her eyes.

"I understand your worries but the tale isn't over, the final chapter trumps all in importance, for it happened only recently." She spoke, the recently familiar chill of danger crept over Horatio. He gulped."Horatio Peppingar, a few years ago, the being vanished."

"What? Vanished? What do you mean?"

"That means he's gone, and the void with him." Margulis' tone was dead serious. Horatio read perfect truth from her. "The leaders of the Voidwalker families came together, to discuss the situation. It came to their notice that we were on the verge of another full-scale wipe. We had failed our mission and would soon be destroyed." She said everything, the truth lay before Horatio, bare as it could be. The horrified look in his face told exactly how he saw it.

"How...how long ago?" He asked, Margulis grimaced.

"Several thousand years ago."

"That long?" His voice was shaky, almost an inaudible wisp.

"Indeed, bit we are Voidwalkers, and we did not give up, will never give up. We did not resign to our fate and let the world be destroyed, and as such we managed to do better here than we did in the realms, good enough to avoid the wipe, and all of that, is thanks to humans."

"Humans?" Horatio asked, "How could they have possibly helped in such a situation? I find it hard to believe that there's a lot of others with my kind of ability." Margulis shook her head.

"Really Horatio, you're looking down on humans a bit too much. Have you forgotten that they rule Hhurondinhner?" Horatio remained silent. Margulis sighed.

"I can make you better Horatio." She said, "Do you remember what I asked you when we first met?"

Horatio gasped in surprise, blushing furiously. Margulis' position made it easy to see her exposed bits.

"You can think of the soul as a tool, a lattice of binding. As a virgin your soul in unbound and free." She clarified, continuing with "That, alongside other things are factors for my choosing you"

"So not my personality?" He asked. She giggled.

"That, is the reason I fell for you." Margulis said, hugging him.

"Now a strategic binding could make you more powerful, exponentially so. With power like that, taking down those pesky intruders will be easy as hell." She said. "I can make you a hero Horatio, as long as you bind you soul with me." She said.

"Bind my soul with- Margulis you don't mean that, do you?" Horatio asked. Margulis nodded.

"Don't be so attached to your status as a virgin Horatio, I guarantee you're going to stop seeing the value in it in the coming years." She joked.