Far Horizons: Tales of Sci-Fi, Fantasy and Horror. Issue #18 September 2015 | Page 89

Lucas blinked a few times, his brain needing a
few seconds to recuperate from the emotional whiplash, then laughed. “See? This is nice. Now I know
more about you.”

“Yeah, you... have a lot of scars.” Lucas was
trying so hard not to hurt her with a stupid sentence,
Margo wanted to laugh.
“Well, those are just the ones that managed to
leave a mark.”

“Considering how long it took me to tell you
this, I don’t consider it an improvement.”

That sentence made Lucas think how many
didn’t. There were a lot of ways to heal even the
largest wounds without a trace. “When did you start
training?”

Lucas almost got up and hugged her again, but
he stopped, satisfying himself with just a small encouragement. “Hey, baby steps.” He then changed the
subject. “Anyway, according to Patrick, the only way
the plant would dry up is if you had not only broken
the link, but taken what energy the plant was getting
from me and placed it back in my body.”

Margo stopped talking. She stared at the blanket, concentrated. “I honestly can’t remember a time
when I wasn’t.”

“Huh.” Margo started in front of her with a
neutral expression. She noticed Lucas was staring at
her, worry dawning over his face. She pointed at her
head. “Oh, processing the information. That’s a lot of
power.”

***
“And you are sure she was the one that did
this, Zetal?” Avalit was now sitting on a large metal
chair.
“Yes, the owner of the units called me right
away. I managed to clear it before the cops showed
up.” The smaller Vuur was standing in the middle
of the relatively small room, feeling proud that this
time he was the one to bring news. Ted, in his Vuur
form that clashed with his plaid shirt and jeans, and a
human Askel in a dark brown suit without a tie were
standing near the entrance.

“You think it’s possible you might be a deity?”
“Me? There isn’t a worse choice, trust me.”
“You know what? For a woman that looks
so filled with confidence, you have surprisingly low
self-esteem. I mean you saved me, and you helped
bring back Patrick. That doesn’t sound evil.” Lucas’s
tone was encouraging.
Margo laughed, but stopped when she felt a
burning in her lungs. She must have cracked or broken
her ribs—that is the only reason Jake would use that
remedy. “I’m just being realistic. I’m good at killing,
strategy, and I’m hot. But a paragon, I’m not.”
Now it was Lucas’s turn to pause. “You must
have experienced a lot of pain in your life to be able to
be so tough right now.” He quietly berated himself for
causing her more of it, even though the situation had
been out of his control.
Margo sighed. “Remember that night you
caught me in the gym without a morph?”

“And tell me how an AGATHA PLANT managed to get further in accomplishing our goals than
us?” Avalit looked as if he would want nothing more
than to get up and break them in half.
Aksel walked forward, addressing his leader.
“Actually Avalit, this works in our favour.”
Zetal turned around and stared at Aksel in confusion. “Huh?”
“How is that?” Avalit was intrigued. “You told
me that the acquiring all the necessary ingredients to
your plan would take a long time, but nothing about a
plant.”

89