Horus stepped back, a look of pure confusion on his face. The familiar feeling of lightning trapped in his veins assaulted him.
How did she find him? His natural conclusion was that this was trouble.
But he had to speak to her either way, and June looked shaken and a bit lost.
"What are you doing up here?" they both asked at the same time.
Horus raised an eyebrow, while June simply chuckled. Why was the stalker laughing at him?
"I was here first so you answer me."
June walked closer, disregarding Horus's unsheathed sword and his suspicious stare. She was either fearless or foolish.
"I saw you coming up here and heard about your… Awakening," She said carefully, staring out to the sprawling city below them.
Her dark blue hair fluttered, the little chimes she had on her glasses sang with the wind. With a somber expression, she added, "I was worried you'd…"
Horus shrugged despite the sick feeling in his belly. "I'm the Fourteenth star. A simple attack isn't enough to make me lose my composure. I simply came up here to… weigh my options."
"How long have you been standing there?" He was worried she heard him talking to himself.
"Not long enough," She mused, walking closer. Her silver eyes shone with interest. "Can I ask what you mean by attack?"
He willed the system to show her the description of [Lonely Star]. It was a bad idea to show a Common what should be his trump card, but the relieved pride he had of not being a failure overshadowed his caution.
"That's… amazing," She said, stunned. Then she laughed madly. "Why am I not shocked? Of course you have enemies powerful enough to do this shit. They tried to balance you."
Horus coughed and turned away as his pride grew. "Thanks."
June's eyes widened as she realised how much he took her compliment to heart. "Are you going to tell your family?"
"Of course," he said immediately. How else would they understand?
She tucked her hair back and chose each word carefully. "I mean… your dad stormed out of the hall and returned to the Fort. And I can only guess Ulrich took the news well."
Horus swallowed, glaring at her. That was all he needed to shut a person up usually, but June met his eyes steadily and kept speaking.
"I don't mean to cross the line. But they don't care about you without that stupid class."
"That's…" Horus pursed his lips. "That's true."
June clicked her tongue. "Sorry I didn't mean to be annoying."
He decided to take a leaf from Wally's book. "What do you want?"
June's expression shifted to shock. He couldn't blame her; Horus Twilight never asks other people questions.
"I… I don't know anymore." She laughed like she couldn't believe her words. "What about you? What do you want? I mean what you want, not what your family has told you is right to want."
Horus' first instinct was to scoff. She didn't know what honor meant to him, the things he'd sacrificed, the things Twilight sacrificed for him. She couldn't understand. She was just a Mundane after all.
That was what he was taught. But the last few days had taught him a different lesson.
"Black blood," He cursed, the proud smile on his face fell. "I used to want to make my parents proud. Twilight is all I've ever known, my first instinct was always to obey, to respect. But you're right; they would have thrown me aside without Crescent Swordsman"
June smiled wistfully. The wind picked up and carried her hair into her face. "I guess that's where we're different. We both hate who we've become, but I'm a selfish bastard. If there is somewhere in the world I can be happy, then I'll go there."
"You're going to leave Bloodhaven?" Commons weren't allowed to leave their assigned home.
"Yeah." She nodded. "I wanted to ask you to go with me when I heard about your awakening."
Horus reeled back. "What the Hel? Why me?"
"Chill, you don't have to be so disgusted by the idea." June blushed and folded her hands. She sighed, "It was uhhh… a joke. Like a really random thought."
He did his best to not gape, but it was still .
"I mean I know you, everyone does," She continued. "My friend has this poster of you in our room and I hear about you all the time from Wally. What I'm struggling to say is that this town is shit. The people are wishful fools, the Awakened see us more like cattle than humans. But you're different. So I thought, me, you and Wally out there would be cool… "
There was a lot to grapple with there, but something stuck out to him. "You have a poster of me in your room?"
"Hahahahaha," her laugh felt forced and awkward. "Again you don't have to be so disgusted. My friend owns it."
He wasn't disgusted by her… mostly. It simply reminded Horus of his face.
"Do you notice any different about my face—"
"Yes," said June immediately. "Oh my fricking god, I didn't want to say anything in case it was rude. I know it's normal to do customizations, but you were already pretty handsome—"
The sour look on his face made her pause and look down. "Um, sorry."
"I'm not mad at you," He said hurriedly. "After my accident in that dungeon, they had to use feature customisation to remake my face. But they ignored my own opinions on how I wanted to look.."
June did a double take. She wouldn't know about his accident so she'd just be so confused. "Wait, can we start from the beginning?"
Horus sighed, finally telling her of his visit to the dungeon with Wally and Jon.
By the end, they were both sitting by the railing of the roof quietly.
"I was afraid he was gone when the news of your injuries came," June mumbled absentmindedly. "I just hoped he was sleeping over at your place again."
Horus smiled wistfully. It was a nice thought. It reminded him of all the times Wally stayed in the Callisto Dojo, and the days they spent training.
June turned to him suddenly. "I'm sorry. For how much shit everyone is giving you about the awakening."
"I should be the one sorry," Horus murmured. "You're brother almost died because of me."
"But he's still." June stared out to the darkening sky. "I wanna be angry, but Wally believed in you. Like for real, not like everyone else. He always said you were the best of us."
Something rose in his chest that made him so uncomfortable he could vomit. Silence lingered.
"Stay. In Sierra, I mean," he said finally. "The outside world is dangerous. I think everyone would miss your music too—"
June laughed aloud. "Name one of my songs."
He smiled awkwardly. "My point is this place is shit, but we can still change things."
She made a sound of indignation but still smiled. "Well, if you want me to stay so badly, I will."
A true smile tugged at his lips. But his happiness didn't last long.
[Ding!]
A system notice flashed in front of both of them and every sentient creature on Earth.
[Attention, Awakened! A Lord selection has begun! Prepare yourself, One person's will is about to shape the world].