When Marvin regained consciousness the only things he could feel were general grogginess, nausea and a difficulty in letting his eyes open, which led to him panicking. Relaxing himself, he eventually opened his eyes, and the first thing he noticed when he did was the fact that everything was just so bright.

Although it took a second, he managed to remember what happened. Only it didn’t make sense. A large man with literal wolf eyes, a ring creating a shield, and one of his classmates killing someone!

Taking a deep breath, the dark haired boy attempted to rationalize the situation. Looking down he saw that he was wearing only hospital pants, and most of his upper body was bandaged, his prosthetic leg thankfully still in place and functional, and felt his head was bandaged as well.

So something clearly happened, he just wasn’t sure what.

Looking at the room he was in was no help either. While it did have the white walls and bright lights of a hospital room, it was also almost completely empty; only his bed, a large wooden door, and a window with the drapes closed broke up the monotony of white.

He figured it best to wait and find out what exactly happened, or at least separate reality and wolf eyed, magic hallucinations.

After a few minutes(or at least Marvin assumed it was a few minutes as he didn’t have any way to check) he felt himself begin to fall asleep, only to be interrupted by the creaking of the wooden door opening.

“Glad to see you’re awake young man.” declared an unknown voice, causing Marvin to turn back to back to see a middle aged man coming through the door on the wall. He had long dark hair and eyes, and wore a grey striped suit, combined with a blue tie.

And he also had the bottom half of a horse.

“I’ve gone completely mad, haven’t I? It’s this darn head injury isn’t it?” whispered Marvin to himself, not really sure exactly what he could say in a situation like this.

“Wouldn’t that be nice? We’d at least manage to avoid all this nonsense.” calls out Marly Mallory entering the room without any apparent injuries.

“W-What happened?” The question was accompanied by Marvin’s voice cracking at every other word, and internally he cursed himself for the poor attempt at hiding the confusion, and, frankly, fear he was feeling.

“That’s why I am here, my boy. To tell you.” said the centaur in a soothing tone of voice

“You-and-y-you’re a centaur? Sir?” wondered Marvin, watching in absolute bafflement what was, for all intents and purposes, a mythical creature in front of him.

“One might say that yes. You can call me Chiron-not the one from Ancient Greece mind you. Before anything else, I want to apologise. If not for the severe mismanagement of the situation, you would not be hurt. You have my sincerest apologies. To understand what happened, you need to understand that in the times of old, back when history itself was young, reigned creatures of immense wonder and untold danger. You faced one of them, a Vaewolf. A Werewolf -Vampire hybrid. Creatures with a deep history tied back to the earliest human civilisations, and many a myth inspired by them. There's a whole other world out there, one that as it is now, must remain as separate as possible from the one you know.”

“But-but how? Why? And how can it be that no one knows?” asked Marvin, trying, and failing, to keep a calm front.

“Well, so as not to bore you with unnecessary information, I’ll try to keep this short. This-this hidden world, if you will, has always been in conflict. Adversarial forces that wish to rise as rulers have been in motion for millennia. There have always been councils of power, some even deified as members of various pantheons in legends, that tried to keep the order as best they could, and keeping this whole thing a secret was deemed for the best as to minimize casualties.

“For the past six centuries, the role of the protectors falls in an organization known as the International Defense Association.” explained the centaur-Chiron-and if that was the short version, Marvin wouldn’t like to see the long one.

“Why would you tell me all of this? Couldn’t you have just, I don’t know, left thinking that all this was just some hallucination from the trauma, or-or whatever?” asked Marvin, and he noticed Marly’s gaze switch over to Chiron as if she didn’t know what was going on either.

Something that the dark haired boy secretly enjoyed, given how she’s been one step ahead of him this entire time. It might be petty, but at this point he didn’t particularly mind.

“Well, I wanted to ease you into this but… well first let me say that the ring wasn’t anything particularly special. We just had Marly make it seem so in order to get that beast to reveal himself. But still it led to a strong revelation.” trailed off Chiron, looking at Marvin as if he was supposed to figure out the rest on his own

“Chiron, you can’t be serious!” shouted the blonde haired girl, getting in between the other two residents of the room.

With a sigh Chiron motioned for the teenagers to follow him, and they exited the room. What was awaiting them outside was not what the dark haired boy was expecting at all.

It was a large, fancy house-a proper mansion if Marvin ever saw one. It had half a dozen doors on the first floor. There were even twin staircases which led to a second floor that Marvin wasn’t able to quite make out what they led to, or even what was behind them-although it did appear like a way out to what he assumed was a gigantic backyard.

“This is your house Chiron?” It was at this point that Marvin found himself wondering just what centaurs’ wages were. The first floor alone was at least five times larger than his grandmother’s house.

“A-actually this is my house.” responded Marly with a small voice, and the blush on her cheeks made it clear that she was embarrassed by that fact, and Marvin felt himself sympathizing with the girl for some reason, in spite of the fact her house was probably more expensive than himself.

“Yes yes, some families have been at this for generations and accumulated quite the profit.” absemindtely explained chiron, looking around the house.

“I think it best to explain now. I’d wager it’s about four thirty, and I’d advise you not to get home too late. Wouldn’t want to worry your grandma now would we?” winked Chiron.

“How did you-”

“I’m sorry to interrupt, but this is quite important, so I’d prefer it if you didn’t ask any questions until after I am done.” requested Chiron, his tone changing from the light hearted one he had to a more business-like attitude, and at Marvin’s nod he began his explanation.

“A few years back I learned about computer programming. It’s pretty interesting actually. I know that this seems random, but hear me out. There are three kinds of mistakes one can make when attempting to create a programme of their own. The one relevant to this explanation are the ones known as ‘logic errors’. Errors that cause the programme to run in unexpected ways, producing results that were not expected. Imagine the universe as a computer programme filled with logical errors that we can exploit. Through vigorous studying, practice, and ingenuity certain humans can learn to harness these scraps of creation through a combination of special items, words and whatnot.

“To put it simply my boy, this is what we call ‘magic’.” finished Chiron, and Marvin was sure his eyes were so wide they might actually pop out of his head

“Magic? Magic!? Vampires, Werewolves, and now magic!” he was shouting but he didn’t care “What’s next? Is the Earth maybe flat? Lizard people run the government? Area 51 actually has aliens in it?” this whole thing was mad, Marvin was sure he was in a coma-or-or dreaming that was the only explanation.

“Don’t be silly Marvin. A flat Earth? As for the lizard people and aliens, they haven’t been an issue for decades.” It's at this point Marvin wished he could tell if the horse man in front of him is serious or not.

“Ugh. Do we have to spell it out for you? Just tell us whether or not you are going to join us!” shouted Marly, causing Chiron to sigh at the girl’s behavior, and mutter something about finally having built a good rapport, although he looked as if he was used to this sort of thing from her.

“I found myself quite impressed at your performance. To use a spell completely on instinct while not being aware that magic exists. Impressive. As such, on the behalf of the International Defense Association I would like you to take up an apprenticeship as a mage. It would be akin to an after school activity, and you could even choose to follow that path later on in your life as a profession. So what do you say, Marvin Perlie?” The whole thing sounded like some recruitment ad for some company, and the way in which Chiron said it made this whole thing seem more grounded in reality.

It might appear insane, especially after he snapped at the ridiculousness of this situation, but Marvin was actually considering it. It was clear to him that as it stood now, he wasn't particularly safe. Plus, if this whole other world was out there then maybe, just maybe, he could make something for himself there. Maybe he could stand as one of these people.

“I’ll do it.” he replied in what he hoped was a confident tone of voice.

A satisfied smile crept its way up to Chiron’s face, and a shocked expression dominated Marly’s.

“Good then, good. On Friday, after school, your teacher will have arrived and your first lesson will be underway. Now unfortunately, I have to leave and take care of some unpleasant paperwork. As for school, I’ll arrange for you to have escorts for your going to school until the end of this week at least. I suggest you get dressed and make your way back home now my boy. As for you Marly, I trust you know what you have to do?” asked Chiron looking at Marly pointiedly, then at Marvin, and for the second time that day she looks embarrassed

After that whole ordeal, the centaur left the house and the two teenagers alone. Well, Marvin suspected there was a lot of activity going on, but they were left alone to give an air of privacy. What followed was an awkward silence, mostly due to some tension Marly was giving off. She approached him, making Marvin realise she was actually a hair taller than him, and muttering something.

“What was that?” he asked.

“I said I’m sorry! God it’s not bad enough that I have to do this, but, just, just-ugh!”

“What for? The fact that you drag me into a world of monsters, magics and secret organizations?” asked Marvin sarcastically, actually surprised that he heard those words out of her mouth-and less surprised that someone is making her say this.

“For using you as bait. Fact is you were lucky the ring worked. Magic doesn’t usually work that well for most people. Chances are you would have died.” she said in a small voice

“What!?” angrily shouted Marvin

“I-I’m sorry. It’s just some people-quite a lot actually-think giving a random bystander the ring was a reckless move, and I-it’s not like I was going to stand around and do nothing! Just accept the apology, okay?” shouted Marly, clearly flustered, and for a brief second Marvin could see that-even if the apology was coerced-there was genuine remorse in her eyes.

“I don’t know who’s making you tell this apology-although I get the sense Chiron might have something to do with it- but it’s not necessary. I think it’s best to start over from here on out. I mean us magic folk gotta stick together, don’t you agree?” Truth was, he wasn’t particularly mad at her. Actually he was but as things stand now this wasn’t even close to the most hurt he’d gotten.

Not that he’d tell her that. But he got the sense that they’d be interacting with one another a lot due to this whole situation for a long time, so he didn’t actually see the point in holding a grudge at this point.

“Heh-I’m not a magician like you’.” smiled Marly, a bit of arrogance sipping into her voice, and although Marvin had barely had a handful of conversations with her, he could tell that was a sign she had returned to normal, well, as normal as could be.

“What are you then?” wondered Marvin.

This situation might be insane, but he actually was interested in finding out as much about this whole world as he could. History was never his favourite subject, but if he was to stand alongside these people some day, then he needed to know as much as possible.

“I think we’d best leave that for tomorrow. The others will be delighted, or rather more intrigued-no, not that either actually. Well they will certainly be something when they find out what happened today.” smiled Marly, appearing both excited and apprehensive at the same time if possible.

“Oh. I didn’t actually think there would be others.” admitted the dark haired boy sheepishly, scratching the back of his neck. A mischievous smile appeared on the heterochromatic girl’s lips at this admittance, getting into his personal space.

“Oh. So you wanted this to just be the two of us Marvin Perlie? How...interesting.” the whole thing was said in a lower, more seductive tone, and even if Marvin knew she was playing him, he felt himself blush to the tips of his ears.

Thankfully she broke character and burst out laughing a moment later. “Did you honestly think there wouldn’t be any other people in on this? The whole fate of the world resting on our shoulders?” asked Marly between laughs, the whole idea seeming ridiculous to her.

“I-It’s just this is a secret, dangerous world! How am I supposed to know how many people are in on this-this thing!?”

“You’re right. It is a secret, dangerous world. And there are-there are only two more apprentice level people left for you to meet.” responded Marly, and Marvin didn’t miss the sad undertones in her voice when she said that there were only two more people for him to meet.

“Just have patience, young one.” she added quickly in a mock-sagely tone.

And if not for the fact that he was quite tired Marvin would probably call her out on the ‘young one’ comment-They were the same age for the love of-but as it is right now, he didn’t have the energy to continue a conversation after the day he had, especially one with a person this energetic.

Instead he simply informed the girl that he’d be getting dressed and leaving, to which she told him that his clothes were in a suitcase under the bed he woke up in.

As he was getting dressed, Marvin found himself thinking that whoever these ‘others’ were, if they had a fraction of Marly’s madness, then life was bound to be a lot more intense in the future.