Horatio let out a smooth yawn, stretching out his arms. He squirmed lazily in his seat, pushing his body out from its sleep. He sat up slowly with a moan.

Horatio lifted his head, lazily looking around the class. It was empty, with not a single soul in sight. He remembered falling asleep soon after answering his teacher's question. He sighed, reaching for his bag to retrieve his phone.

"Four o'clock." He noted, "Thirty minutes late." He said, his eyes wandering over the empty class once more, "Nobody even tried to wake me up too, you as well." Horatio directed the last part to the Analyst.

"Took you long enough." A voice came from outside. In a moment the classroom door opened and Margulis came walking in. Horatio waved at her, returning his phone into his bag he stood, slinging his valuables over his shoulder as he walked up to her.

"Hey," He greeted, "why are you here?" He asked, Margulis harrumphed.

"I'm not allowed to come see you?" She asked, raising a brow. Horatio stepped back.

"You can do whatever you want. It's just that this is the first time you've come to see me after school, usually we meet at you place." He explained.

"That's true." She agreed, "But special circumstances call for special meetings, that should ring a bell no?" She questioned. Horatio hummed, for a moment his eyes drifted away from her and he smirked sheepishly.

"I don't suppose it could have something to do with Flauna?" He edged.

Margulis chuckled. Turning, she left the room, motioning for Horatio to follow her. They walked together as she spoke, "You surprised the hell out of me when I felt you using the power, had me thinking for a moment a rift had opened here. But that would be impossible." She said.

"Yeah, after the initial opening of a rift, the energy required to open it again is far to great." Horatio explained.

"Exactly, so I ruled that off. Then I thought of the next possibility; you had turned evil and I would need to put you down." Margulis said.

"Unlike you to make such a conclusion." He dismissed.

"Never rule out possibilities when dealing with people, no matter how unlikely they may seem." She said and stopped, turning to face Horatio. He gave him a scornful look. "You're goofing off Horatio, in the most dangerous way possible." She said.

Horatio was taken aback, he made to say something but held his words.

"Misusing spirit power is dangerous Horatio, you don't even have a full grasp of it. Even worse, what if someone saw you? Have you forgotten the fate of the world lies in our hands?" She said sternly. Horatio made a struggled sound in his throat, looking down in shame.

"I'm sorry, I just wanted to know if I was ready if the time came." He said quietly. Margulis said nothing for a moment, she looked at him in thought. “The second rift isn't going to be opening anytime soon, you can relax, or so I’d like to say.” She began.

“Now I cant claim to know you any deeper than the surface but I can tell you’re anxious. I know its hard to keep living this double life but its necessary we keep the veil drawn, not just to protect our world but to keep our superiors happy.” Margulis explained. Horatio shrugged, waving his hand.

“Your superiors,” he corrected, “let’s not pretend I’ve been inducted or anything, I’d even go as far as to say your family has been more open to my sister than me. That veil is still draped before me.” He spoke dismissively.

“You know that’s just tradition, to reduce liability in case our arrangement doesn’t work out, and Sylvia is a joy to be around, don't take that from her.” Margulis relayed. Horatio threw up his hands with a huff.

“Fair enough, all I’m saying is I’m still just a regular guy with superpowers. Sure I got ninety days of high intensity training but I’m going to need much more than that if I’m going to be ‘one of you’.” He finally said, physically disengaging after his last words. He kept quiet, waiting for her reply as they walked.

Foot traffic early evening was light, with nobody else on the footpath neither of them bothered to lower their voices. Once silent did set in, it was chilling, bringing with it a shaky, icy feeling.

Horatio shook his head, "Sorry, I got a bit too heated.".

“Don’t apologise, your reactions are important to me.”

He exhaled slowly, “Let me rephrase then.” still air hung as he mulled his words over. Margulis held her hand up, inspecting her fingernails.

“What is your goal with me?” His statement had become a question.

“That should be obvious.” She paused and looked him over before flicking her finger forcefully. Her hands dropped back to her side, reaching for his in a moment but not going through. “As explained in our initial meetings, my aim by picking and training you is to build a strong partnership, and ideally a relationship.”

“Yeah but that's just Voidwalker tradition no?” Horatio slowed, raising his gaze to hers, she met him with a vacuous look. “What about what you want, personally?”

Margulis’ lips warbled for a moment, her brows raising. “You’re not interested?”

“I’m don’t feel strongly either way, it’s only been three months after all.” He replied.

She sighed. “Then I’m afraid I cannot answer Horatio. What I feel personally should not impact our mission together. My goal as a Voiwalker is to protect this realm, you may choose to help me if you so desire.”

“What, you mean you have a rift in mind?” He asked, Margulis rolled her eyes.

“You could have come clean at the very start you know.”

“But then we’d miss out on such lovely conversation.” Horatio laughed.

Margulis was right, he did want to close a rift, he wanted to know how strong he had become but he was unsure if he was ready. He had won the last time purely by luck, if he messed up in the next battle he could surely die.

Margulis chuckled emptily, "You puzzle me. If that’s what you want then I’ll allow it, but we cant go jumping the gun, not when your family might be involved." She said.

"You don't mean-"

"The rift I've tagged opens on the street before your house." Margulis said, "I was planning on closing it by myself." She said seriously.

“And get yourself killed in the process.” Horatio fumed, “You have me now, let me help.”

“I’d rather it be me than you, or worse, your sister.” She said. “Think back to your first battle, are you certain you can handle a rift of far greater strength?”

Horatio clenched his fists, in his mind he simulated the event, it was nowhere close to possible.

"You have three days." Margulis instructed and turned to go. "One of us is dying Horatio, call me when you've decided on whom." She said and walked away.

Horatio stood quietly on the walkway, his mind swimming with this new information. How could he have been so careless as to not notice a rift literally at his doorstop. He kicked himself, not even having it in him to be upset by Margulis' rudeness.

Defeated, he sighed and began to walk back home, it seemed he would not be training with Margulis today.

"Hey, Horatio." A familiar voice that came from behind him about halfway though his journey, on the street that led back to the school. He took a look over his shoulder to see a young girl with straight brown hair and jade-green eyes standing behind him. She smiled as their eyes met.

The girl was Nora Gasal, a childhood friend of Horatio who had just started at Next high this year.

"Hey Nora." He said, he took a deep breath and cleared his face before turning to her.

"What was that with Margulis? You two looked like you were talking about something serious." Nora said, moving closer to Horatio.

"I wouldn't call it serous, just chatting." He lied. Nora looked amazed for some reason.

"But I heard that Margulis was unapproachable and mean, but you were taking to her fine, even followed her quite far, that's brave." She said.

'I can see that description.' He thought glumly. "But they say the same about me, and you're talking to me just fine." He said.

"That's because I like you Horatio." Nora said plainly, no emotion written on her adorable face.

"Could you stop with that already, you're basically my little sister." Horatio said with a shake of his head.

"Does that mean you like Margulis?" Nora asked.

Horatio flinched, "Wha- of course not!" He countered.

"Oh, you do." Nora teased with glee. "Though you better forget about her soon because I'm not going to share you." She said.

"Who had been teaching you these things?" He questioned, "You're fifteen Nora, in a few months that will be basically illegal." He said.

"No it won’t, girls can get married at sixteen with parental consent." She said verbatim.

"Again, who has been teaching you these things. That trip overseas has gotten ideas in your head." Horatio said, "And I don't think Sylvia is going to agree to something like that."

Nora did not respond to his statement only giving him a wide grin that seemed to say 'You might want to rethink your words.' He looked away, unwilling to continue to conversation.

"We should head home." He said and began leaving. Nora joined him.

"Can we stop by somewhere, Mr Incredible?" Nora asked.

"What the- I've told you to stop calling me that! It's embarrassing." Horatio said.

"It's my way of showing appreciation. You may not tell Sylvia but I know all about what you're capable of." Nora said. Horatio swallowed, making a deep growl.

“Yeah sure capable of watching over your clumsy self.” He chuckled.

Horatio and Nora were good friends, since childhood. Born in the same neighbourhood to families that had been close for several generations they naturally became friends as they grew up.

Nora was a year younger than Horatio and was consequently doted over as a younger sister. Horatio found Nora's plain brown hair to be quite interesting over his or his sister's.

He was also interested in her jade green eyes, solely for the reason that they were similar to his, unlike the calm brown or clever black others had, and even the piercing red his sister had. They were beautiful colours, but just that, beautiful.

They grew up together, almost like one family, with Sylvia Peppingar acting as their legal guardian after Nora's parents died.

"Say Horatio..." Nora started.

"What's the matter?"

"You don't really like Margulis do you?" She questioned sincerely.

Horatio's heartbeat slowly quickened. He felt his breath shortening. He looked away, concealing a blush that had formed on his face.

Horatio felt her fluffy curls brush against his chest, her hands holding onto him for support. She walked close to him but he did not push her away.

He could feel her body, her perfectly average shape and body he could not think of at anything other than his little sister's. Nora was his childhood friend, right?

Nora pulled back, clasping Horatio's cheeks between her palms, squishing his face.

"You're blushing." She said "What are you thinking about?"

Horatio's blush intensified, "N-nothing!" He lied, breaking eye-contact.

"When I squish your face like this, you look like a pufferfish." Nora stated.

Horatio looked at her quizzically. She was smiling. Her tight smile spread across her face. Her lips parted and she began to laugh.

"What?" Horatio asked. Nora ignored him, tears forming in her eyes as she continued to laugh.

The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.

Horatio found himself laughing too, confusedly staring into Nora's jade eyes. She too stared back. "Has anyone ever told you, that you have the bluest eyes to ever be blue?" Nora asked, cocking her head as if she had just posed a sphinx-like riddle.

Horatio felt the awkwardness burst like a balloon. He smiled, both at her question and the simple clarification it had provided. Nora was Horatio's childhood friend. He could no longer think of her as his sister but that was fine. He however did not need to feel awkward with her, just as he always had he would feel at ease with her. She was a dear friend to him and he knew she felt the same. He didn't mind that they were being a nuisance on the street. He would not move for anything.

"Has anyone ever told you," Horatio copied her, fighting not to burst into laughter "that you're extremely childish?" He asked, cocking his head to align to hers.

Horatio knew what he asked wasn't really a question, not to Nora. He had meant it as a sincere statement. He had said it jokingly but genuinely hoped Nora would mature mentally, just a little, enough so that he doesn't have to constantly watch over her.

Nora raised her hand to her chin as if deep in thought. "Now that you mention it...I guess I have heard that before somewhere. You told me that just yesterday!" Nora exclaimed "And the day before that, and the day before that, and the day before that." She had barely finished the third repetition when they both burst into laughter.

The two of them walked on, they had spent too much time at this spot. The buildings were low at this part of town and the sunset was clearly visible. The setting sun cast a shifting orange glow over the sky. It poured through spaces between the city's skyscrapers, reaching calmly into the suburbs, painting a soft picture of the afternoon's end.

They walked slowly, ambling along the side walk. Nora clung to Horatio, resting most of her wight on him. Horatio didn't mind, as long as she wasn't derailing them.

They made it through the suburbs and only had a few more minutes of walking before they made it home. Horatio had noticed now that Nora's step was unsteady and she was swaying a little. A single look into her fluttering eyes showed she was half-asleep.

"Don't tell me you pulled an all-nighter." Horatio spoke, annoyed at her.

"It wasn't an all-nighter, I went to bed at three." She mumbled. Horatio groaned.

"You're making walking difficult, why would you stay up watching that series on a school night?" He questioned.

Nora spoke slow and slurred her words, "Major Theresa was just sho cool. She went and..." She stopped. Horatio looked at her, she was seconds from passing out. He sighed.

"We can't walk like this, it's dangerous." He said. "Why don't you get on my back and I'll carry you the rest of the way home?" He offered. Nora slowly shook her head.

"No way...I'll look sthupid." She mumbled. She pulled away from horatio and nearly fell to the ground before he grabbed her. She was not even half awake. He groaned. The passers-by gave him strange looks and he knew they could not keep this up for long.

"Nora, you're wasting time. This isn't safe." He said and quickly lifted Nora up with his hand behind her knees and back.

Immediately she kicked against him, struggling out of his grasp. He let her down and she glowered at him.

"I can walk just fine." She said and rose to her wobbly feet. Horatio sighed once more.

"Fine," He said, "Go on."

Nora harrumphed, turning about she began down the street, past Horatio. He waited a few moments before calling out.

"You're going the wrong way." He said. She came by past him without saying anything. He shook his head and followed him.

For a while, she seemed shaken enough by him carrying her that she was alert. It didn't last though and before long she was swaying once more. Horatio was not about to subject himself to another public embarrassment so he let her continue.

Nora made a misstep, tripping over herself. She fell forward into an oncoming pedestrian, a woman in a suit who was on the phone, completely unaware of herself. The woman, surprised by Nora, accidentally shoved her to the side, onto the road and on the path of oncoming traffic.

For Horatio, everything began to slow down. He pushed forward, reaching for her hand again when his mind flashed. He turned his head to the side to see a dark shape coming rapidly towards them. He didn't have enough time to understand what was going on. A single instinct in his head, powered by the analyst simply told him Nora was in danger.

Horatio felt the adrenaline pour into his bloodstream. It was not late enough for his powers to activate, he had to think of something or he would not make it in time. The car was too close for the driver to notice in time.

He put his hand behind him, he had only just learned the power but he had to use it now. He called "Flauna; flare." And a flame jet burst out. He was flung in her direction. Desperately he grabbed her in one hand, giving the car another look. It was too close to avoid, he had to stop it.

Horatio felt his energy begin to flow, he took the opportunity, pushing it to his arm as he outstretched it.

A loud bang racked the air. Horatio felt intense pain in his left arm. He grit his teeth against it. He forced more energy through his body, giving off a noticeable glow. He had not a single thought for how dangerous his actions were.

"Aargh!" Horatio kept pushing energy into his hand, forcing it into his palm, collecting as much as he could.

"Energy control: Explosion!" Horatio detonated the energy collected in his palm, creating enough force to blow the car back.

Car horns blared loudly about Horatio. Frantically he turned to Nora, "Dammit, look at what you've caused!" He yelled. He did not need to take a look around to know that every person in the area was focused on him, he had created a huge explosion in incompatibility and knew he would get in trouble for it.

'Fuck.' He thought. If he had exposed himself already there was nothing else that could incriminate him further. Gathering Nora into his arms he called again to Flauna, sending its energy into his feet. He blasted off, the flames propelling him high into the air, up above the clouds. He moved quick, holding his breath. Supersonic, he crossed over the city, narrowly vanishing from sight.

He touched down in the park outside his neighbourhood after making sure it was empty from above. He did not say anything to Nora as he let her go and she did not say anything back. He was furious and knew if he spoke he would regret it. He breathed.

"Not a word of this to Sylvia, am I clear?" He growled low. Nora nodded, unable to meet his gaze. She turned from him and without a backwards glance she walked away.

Horatio took a seat on one of the park's benches and sighed. He remembered these swings vividly. He and Nora had spent a long time here. He was unsure of what to do. His life was over. If anyone had caught him on video he would be exposed to the world and with him, the secret of the Voidwalkers. God knows what they’ll do to him.

He tried to reach into his backpack to take his phone and realised he had dropped it. He sighed once more. Anyone who had it would be able to track him, he was definitely screwed. Worse still he knew the Voidwalkers would not take kindly to his actions. They were secretive for a reason and he had just let an entire city district in on their secret.

"Looking for this"? A smooth voice like caramel spoke. Horatio looked up to see a dark-skinned boy with blonde hair and auburn eyes talking to him. Beside him was an older girl, one with flat purple hair and eyes that mirrored dull amethyst. They were in uniform, a kind he had seen before, Toldaap Voidwalkers, you had to admire their response speed. The boy held out Horatio's backpack to him.

"H-how did you find this, and me?" Horatio questioned. He did not wait for an answer. He looked away saying, "I know I messed up."

"That is true." The boy said. "But don’t worry too much about it." He said. Horatio looked at him again. He had held his hair into a long ponytail and he looked to be about the same age as Horatio. His eyes were kind and that put Horatio at ease.

"But I-" Horatio protested.

"We fixed it." The girl said this time. She was clearly an adult, perhaps the same age as Sylvia. He noticed she had Nora's bag on her shoulder.

"I don't understand." Horatio admitted.

"There will be many things that you will not understand Horatio, not until you graduate as one of us." The boy said. "Just rest easy now, we have out humans breaking silence pretty much weekly, in fact you lasted much longer than most." He said. “The name is Aiden, my partner here is Servia, pleasure to make your acquaintance.

Horatio nodded yet he could not allow himself to feel relieved as they handed him both bags and left. He carefully reached into his bag, pulling out his phone. He put in Margulis' number and called.

He looked once again at the nostalgic park. Nora had spoken of it earlier, the reason they had not come here for years.

Horatio was seven then, it had been ten years since Nora's parent's died. That day they had been with him not too far from here. From his seat he could hear the sound of the hydroelectric dam a few hundred metres away. They were on the cordoned path that led to the dam itself.

"She's over there!" Horatio had yelled, his voice small and squeaky. The adults pushed past him, darting into the trees. Horatio ran after them, trying to keep them in sight.

They came closer and closer to their destination. Horatio felt a tinge of relief, knowing that the adults would get there in time to save the day. He just wanted to keep up, not to get lost in there, surrounded by trees.

"Mr. and Mrs. Gasal, wait!" Horatio called out, the adults did not wait, quickly disappearing as Horatio fell back. He had to catch up, they shouldn't have to search for him, he had to- Horatio felt his motion stop suddenly, pushing him forward and over onto the ground. He landed with a hard thud, spinning to a stop.

"Ow." Horatio cried, he tried to stand, but his dizzied head and throbbing ankle kept him on the ground. He sat, closing his eyes to deal with the wobbling.

"I've got to get up, I've got to see Nora." That was what he had said. What had led him there was all that kept him going. This scene was all his fault, his own negligence and he knew it. Even now it haunted him.

Just an hour before that, Horatio and Nora had been sitting together, playing in the neighbourhood park. This neighbourhood was their home, where they were both born and raised, for five years. Horatio had known Nora since before he could talk, they had instantly become fiends and would stay that way throughout their childhood.

"Faster, faster!" Nora cried gleefully as Horatio pushed her on the swing. He was carefully controlling her speed, He knew she couldn't handle more than this, a voice in his head told him.

"Okay Nora, you asked for it!" He said, fooling her into thinking he actually pushed her harder. Nora laughed as she swung quickly from on the set.

Horatio carefully pushed her along, smiling too. He saw her as his little sister, a single year younger than him but considerably younger in terms of the mind.

"Alright, I'm going to give you a big one now, hold on." Horatio called, intent this time on actually increasing the force of his push. He waited as she came swinging back and lined up for the big push. Only, there was another person in the way.

Horatio paid little attention to the newcomer, only taking note of their position. Nora was coming through again and Horatio was ready to push. He quickly set his hands on her lower back and pushed mightily, seeing all too late that another hand was on Nora's back, also pushing.

'What?' Horatio instantly realised what was going on and made to slow Nora down, but he wasn't fast enough, not even to grasp her shirt as she went flying off the set, pummelling onto the ground.

Horatio was horrified. He turned to the stranger, anger in his eyes. Immediately he took note of the stranger's appearance. A boy, looking to be thirteen years old, wearing a black tank top and dark denim shorts, with a black embroidered baseball cap turned back. The boy was giving Horatio a smug look which only saved to ignite his anger.

"Look what you've done!" Horatio yelled, his throat straining as he did, he glared at the boy who only smiled back, as though Nora's pain was entertaining.

Horatio felt his anger billow up. "Hit him." a voice spoke to him. He clenched his fist, intent on making the boy pay. He stopped, remembering Nora, he had to make sure she was okay.

Horatio turned, and was immediately hit in the head. A sharp pain rang through his skull as he toppled backwards onto the ground, the swing had swing back and hit Horatio. He did not feel the hard ground hit his back as he fell, but continued deep into a dark seeping plane.

Horatio felt a cool warmth on his forehead. He felt uncomfortable. His eyes fluttered open, his head hurt and he had no recollection of why he was on the ground.

"Hey, are you okay?" Horatio heard a voice ask. He turned to find a girl squatting before him.

"I-I'm fine." Horatio stuttered, staring into the girl's amethyst eyes. His eyes remained on her pale skin, staring at her beautiful face, noting her dull purple hair.

"You don't look fine." The girl sighed, touching his forehead. Horatio winced in pain. She sighed again. "You're bleeding," The girl had said, "A pretty boy like you should be more careful when playing."

Horatio blushed lightly looking down. "I'm sorry ma'am"

"Ma'am!? I’m just thirteen!" The girl shouted in surprise. "Never mind, just close your eyes, I think I can help."

Horatio obeyed meekly, closing his eyes and waiting he felt her hand on his forehead. Her touch was much more gentle this time. He felt her lightly rub the spot and the pain slowly subsided.

"I'm not done, hold on" She said and her hand moved off his head. Horatio still felt its presence just above his head. Slowly his mind cleared, the haze steadily lifted and his memories came to him.

Horatio stood up with a start. "Nora!" He called suddenly. He looked down at the girl who was looking up at him in surprise. "Thank you but I've got to go!" Horatio said and immediately ran off.

Horatio paused his thought for a moment. That girl then bore striking resemblance to the Servia who had just left. The Voidwalkers had been looking after him all this while he realised.

"Glad I was able to help!" He remembered the girl called as he left.

Horatio breathed heavily as he closed on an elaborately designed two story building. His eyes locked onto the stencilled white walls. He pushed open the dark iron gate and headed into the courtyard. He burst through the door and immediately headed for the stairs in a rush, moving to the second floor. He darted through the hallway towards an engraved white door.

Horatio pushed the handle, opening the door into a room where two adults were having a discussion. "Nora is in trouble!" He said.

He forced himself to he feet, that explained what had brought them all here. He still had to finish up, apologise to Nora. He began to walk trudging forward through the pain. If anything, he was to blame for Nora's predicament, he had to do something.

He heard several yells up ahead, alongside the sound of rushing torrents of water. He pushed forward, fighting the pain in his ankle as he made for the break in the trees.

"Help!" Horatio heard a voice scream and it made his blood run cold. He knew the adults could save Nora, so why were they calling for help?

Horatio ignored his ankle, powering through the trees and out of the woods. He found himself before a dam, but nobody was there.

"Mr and Mrs Gasal! Nora!" He called, moving towards the raging waters. Horatio's town was powered by a Hydroelectric dam. If there was one thing he remembered at this time, it was that this dam was the site of several suicides due to the lack of security, he did not know what those words meant at that time but the Analyst had taken note of them.

"No." He had felt his heart skip a beat. He inched closer and closer to the dam peering into the waters. There was no sign of the Gasals. "No." Horatio fell to his knees. He felt the crushing weight of defeat over his chest. the only thing he could think of was that it was his fault.

"Horatio! Horatio are you there? Help me!" Horatio heard Nora's voice just above the water. he looked to the side and saw a body held at the waist by a rope that was tied to a tree stump at the bank.

"Nora! Nora you're okay!" He had said and quickly pulled Nora up and onto stable ground.

"Nora, where are your parents?" Horatio asked, untying Nora who sobbed quietly. "Hey Nora, what's going on, I saved you, you don't need to cry."

Nora hugged Horatio tight, sobbing into his shirt. Horatio laughed uncomfortably, "Nora? come on you shouldn't be crying, we should find your parents." Horatio said but made no move to stand. The Analyst told him all he needed to know. The information was all there, he knew it then but refused to believe it. He knew now all that had happened, they were still feeling the effects, even that kid and his family had to leave the island, yet then he did not want to take in the information.

"Nora, please don't tell me you're crying because...because you're parents aren't coming back?" Horatio felt his fingers begin to shake. Nora continued crying, she said nothing, only taking shaky breaths as she sobbed.

"I'm sorry Nora, I'm so so sorry." Horatio held Nora, he only wanted to be there for her now. He was a child at heart and was not sure what he could do. He only did what he thought was best.

That was what changed the both of their lives forever. He did not want to think on it any more. The past was the past and the only thing he could take away from it now was that he would take better care of Nora, no matter the cost he would ensure her safety and happiness. If he had to be killed here due to his breach of compatibility he would accept, as long as Nora was safe. He kept this resolve.

Margulis picked on the second ring, "Have you made up your mind?" She asked, alluding to their conversation earlier that afternoon.

"I messed up Margulis." He said.. His voice warbled as he tried to keep himself from tears. He felt emotionally unstable and his heart beat like a jack hammer.

The line was silent for too long. Margulis seemed shocked by Horatio's words. Finally she said "I'm already on my way." And the line went dead.