Marvin had done it. He had stalled their enemies for long enough.

He was on his knees, surrounded by his friends and mentor, although they didn’t seem to be focused on him at that moment. Kara was staring ahead at the direction of Amdis and the unknown vampire. While he couldn’t see her expression, he was certain that the other mythical creature was not something she expected.

As for the trio of his classmates, they were all focused on Ava Mallory. He was sure that it was only a combination of shock, disbelief and sense of self-preservation that kept them from trying to reach her. Marly was looking at her like she was trying to soak up every single detail, CB was already in the process of turning into a werewolf slowly, while Adam looked plainly desperate.

For a moment, Marvin’s exhausted mind showed him a memory of Adam’s confession. To him this wasn’t a reunion with a sisterly figure. This was his chance to figure out if that person even cared for him in any way.

“More of us are on their way, so surrendering would be easier for everyone. Your little forcefield will be out in less than a minute. Still, I don’t think anyone here wants to do this the easy way.” said Kara to their adversaries, who stared back at her wordlessly.

“Adam and CB, Vaewolf’s yours. Marly, take care of Marvin. I’ll take care of the vampires.” she called out in a voice that commanded respect. This was the first time he’d seen Kara Snow be in such a mood and it appeared that she, alongside Eobard, had a side to her that indicated years of battles that they hadn’t seen or heard of. And if he was honest, it was scaring him a little.

There were fifty seconds left according to his watch.

“Vampires?” laughed Amdis. “My name is Amdis, and I will be your sole adversary.” said the mad immortal as he dashed towards Kara.

“Gaia!” Kara’s lower leg was engulfed in a golden glow and heptagrams formed in her hands, the earth in front of it rising to stop the vampire. The earthly wall broke as they began their fight properly, Amdis’s superior strength and agility allowing him to grab her almost instantaneously.

“You’re not as good as you think.” said Amdis as he grabbed her by the throat.

“Aer.” coughed Kara, as Amdis was suddenly pushed far. “You’re too arrogant.” she said as she rubbed her neck.

Adam and CB meanwhile, shifted completely into their animalistic forms, going after the vaewolf. Or rather, after Ava. The hybrid beast seemed to be smarter than the one he and Marly had faced, using the unconscious woman as a human shield to protect itself from their attacks. However, without any weaponry, ranged or otherwise, it was just as incapable of attacking.

“Don’t let him use my sister like that!” He heard Marly next to him call out and he was certain that if it wasn’t for him-a pang of guilt hit Marvin in his heart as he realised he was one of the reasons she couldn’t go to her sister at that point-and her apparent lack of a weapon, she would rush straight into the battle.

It only took a second for the fighting to fall into a rythim, only this time he took no part in it. Instead, Marly dragged him further away from the battle, setting them both down for what he hoped would be a nice, calm conversation.

“You idiot! What were you thinking?” she shouted at him, and he can actually see tears forming at the corners of her eyes, causing him to be at a loss for words

“I-I just thought if-Ava, I thought I had a surefire way to get her back, and I…”

“Don’t talk! Just-Just rest. Is this the big secret you talked about? Kara just came up to me and told me we had an emergency. I want to know what is even going on. Is that too much?” she said in an uncharacteristically small voice.

He would have laughed if the situation wasn’t so dire. He would like to know as well. Kara said that the first stage of the spell would only let her, Adam and CB enter this area. Not that he wasn’t glad Marly was here, but it made him question exactly what more was in this plan that he did not know about.

Would she-would she abandon him if he told her what happened here? Would she abandon him after sister was rescued? Would Adam follow suit? Would he even lose what he had with CB following-No.

No. No. No.

“I don’t-the backlash is still affecting me. Kara’s spell probably did more harm than even she expected I’d say. Only a bit later than usual. Just stay with me for a moment. Please?” he asked her, probably sounding more pathetic than he’d had in his life.

He saw Marly nod, and they focused their attention back to the fights at hand.

They were like a showcase of magic and skill, showing the difference in skill between the apprentices.

The vaewolf fighting Adam and CB had put Ava down in order to fight, but even then he relied mostly on his blunt strength, whilst his comrades fought in a way that made it apparent in spite of their current animosity towards one another, they’d been close together for years: Adam’s speed and armor-like skin made him good bait for the Vaewolf’s strikes, whilst CB’s superior strength and speed made him perfect for attacking the enemy.

While they did deviate from that pattern a couple of times, they were a seemingly perfect spear and shield combo. One taking care of defense, and the other of offense.

Watching the other battle however, was to watch two masters of their respective crafts clash with one another. It was clear to Marvin that Amdis had been merely toying with him. He was still proud of himself for doing as well as he did, but the vampire moved with such speeds that most people wouldn’t even be able to see him coming.

Kara Snow evidently wasn’t most people.

She was using her own spells, the elemental ones she was badgering him about, with heptagrams practically never leaving her hands, as she used the elements of water, earth, and air, but not fire-he assumed because they were in a highly flammable area-to shape the world around her in ways he couldn’t even think of.

She was using them by themselves and in clever combinations-throwing pieces of earth with air, merging earth and water to make her opponent lose his footing, and a thousand. Amdis, for his part, seemed to be able to keep up, but if Marvin was a betting man, he’d certainly put his money in his teacher.

The female vampire stood still far away from them, the only readily available combatant to not actually take part in the combat. Yet, she radiated a quiet power that was evidently felt by Marly as well as she intertwined her fingers with his. Looking at each other there was a mutual understanding that even if they were unarmed and worse for wear, everyone else was occupied with fighting their opponents, which left only them to do something about her.

“For Ava.” whispered Marly as she stared at the unknown enemy.

“Ignis Lighter!” said Kara after she pushed Amdis away from her with a wind spell.

A golden light engulfed Marvin’s left leg, the lighter in it tearing through his pocket and reaching Kara in a second. A smile formed on Marvin’s face as he saw what was about to happen a moment before it did.

“This is what happens when you hurt my students! Ignis!” Kara ignited the lighter right as Amdis was about to reach her. Her timing was perfect as it had been the rest of the day, the lighter’s enhanced flames turning blue for a moment before going out, taking Amdis’s left side with them.

“You beat me. I-I lost.” said Amdis. He looked to be at a loss for words as he struggled to keep himself falling. “Thank you.”

He saw the vampire smile at Kara, and then his look shifted at Marvin himself, something akin to fondness in his crimson eyes.

While the dark haired teen couldn’t care less about his enemy’s twisted thoughts, he realised that he was wearing a huge smile on his face.

Adam and CB were holding their own against the vaewolf. They even looked like they were going to win.

Amdis had fallen and it was nearly time for the boundary to open.

They had won.

A sudden, ugly sound followed by a deafening silence suddenly overtook the triumphant moment. The first thing Marvin noticed was the fact that it felt like the air itself had shifted. It took a moment for him to realize what happened.

The female vampire had moved.

The lush green plains were tainted with red. She had used her very own comrade to create a blind spot through which she struck at Kara’s heart. Her hand was inside his mentor’s chest bathed in her blood.

Kara was-Kara was-

There wasn’t a single thought rushing through his head. He vaguely registered Adam and CB defeating, but at that point it was all just background noise to him.

Feelings that he had not felt in half a decade came back to him, except this time he actually saw his mentor’s lifeless body fall to the ground, her last expression one of pain, and the person responsible for her death looking straight at him without any apparent emotions in her eye other than a twisted happiness.

“It’s up to you now.”

He heard Kara’s voice in his mind, soft and broken. It-it didn’t suit her.

“Kara? You-”

“I’m sorry.”

He wanted to scream, to throw himself at that, that damned vampire who thought she deserved to take her away from him.

But he didn’t.

He couldn’t move.

Whether it was fear, sadness, or even anger that had him paralyzed he did not know.

Just like when they faced the minotaur, he just didn’t move.

“A life for a life. I was here to observe, but I could not let you get out unscathed.” said the vampire and the whole atmosphere became colder. A cracking sound signified the breaking of the boundary spell, and the vampire snarled at it.

“No. You-I will-”

“You won today, young man. Mourn and celebrate.” said the woman as smoke began escaping her exposed skin as she burned. “But we are not all like Amdis. You may have delayed it, but the end is still coming.”

He struggled to not let his tears fall. He felt Marly’s arms around him as she hugged him. Adam and CB came to him in their human forms after knocking the Vaewolf unconscious, CB carrying Ava in his arms. However it was the quietness that broke him.

The absolute absence of sound that only magnified the absence of his mentor. The same silence that filled his hospital room and his parents’ funeral five years back.

“Why?” cried Marvin. “Why?” he said, keeping his voice as quiet as possible.

The spell’s effects had vanished completely now, allowing the sunlight to cover the clearing.

It was a beautiful sight.

He heard footsteps behind him, and he turned around to see a dozen soldiers led by James Mallory and Eobard rushing towards them. The two leading men held a sword and gun in hand respectively.

“Ava.” smiled James Mallory as he rushed towards CB, taking her from his hands.

Eobard stopped when he noticed Marvin’s expression. A moment later he saw Kara’s lifeless body, kneeling to his student’s level, resting his non-prosthetic arm at his shoulder.

Letting go of him Marly went to check on her sister, while Marvin himself clung to Eobard, sobbing like he was a small child.

--

Repeatedly punching the wall of a house worth more than your life was probably a bad idea.

Yet, Eobard Kon found himself not caring as he kept punching a wall in the Mallory estate with his good arm. It was a wall in the room Ava and Marvin were in, resting and recovering. It had been two days since that battle, but with the school trip and IDA procedures, he didn’ have any time to truly process what had happened.

It was a successful battle. Amdis was captured and they knew he was working with at least one other vampire. They should be celebrating or planning their next move.

It had been a simple, if risky, plan he and Kara had come up with. She would use her exceptional talent-after what happened he found that ‘exceptional’ was more than fitting-to defeat Amdis before James Mallory and his troops entered the battle.

Amdis would be unconscious and, since the commander would be too caught up in the return of his elder granddaughter, they would get what information they could out of him and go on from there. If a war was really coming, they’d have the time to utilise every skill, plan and connection they had to make sure it wasn’t as disastrous as before.

“My granddaughter’s in there you know.” said James Mallory as he came up from behind him.

“Good for her.”

“Your apprentice is there as well.”

“He’s not my apprentice.” said Eobard while he stopped hitting the wall. “He is-was Kara’s apprentice.”

Marvin.

Kara always took pride in her work, in her magic. She understood its various aspects and feared its cost more than most sorcerers he’d seen. That was what allowed her to rise to the lever where she’d be able to beat a vampire singlehandedly.

“I know you think me to be heartless, but I do honestly feel sorry for you and the boy. While I didn’t know her personally, Kara Snow was clearly a strong sorceress. She also saved my granddaughter while all I could do was stand there ineffectually.” said James Mallory, sounding genuinely upset and honest.

A part of Eobard wondered if he felt the same sadness every time one of his soldiers died. If the Commander understood and carried with him the pain of loss every time.

“I appreciate it sir.” saluted Eobard weakly. It was odd to speak with a man like James Mallory in such a way, but he didn’t really have anyone else. Chiron was the closest living person he had left that he was in at least semi-frequent contact with and he was no more trustworthy-or likeable to Eobard-than the man that stood in front of him.

“Ava was malnourished and so exhausted I truly believe she might sleep for days, but she didn’t have many injuries. I told Marly that she didn’t need to stay there. That her sister would make a fine recovery. She said: It isn't only her. I’m staying because Marvin needs me.”

At least Marvin wasn’t alone. He’d figured that with Ava back, it was most likely that the children’s attention would be more focused on her. Based on how things turned out, he was glad to be proven wrong. For Marvin’s sake. He knew it was something that’d make Kara happy as well. Perhaps she was right and this path-this path was the one he was meant to take.

Kara…

“You know, I met her six years ago.” said Eobard without thinking. “I was young, stupid, and wanted to remain in history. She had troubles of her own although I never found out what they were. I don’t know any friends or family that she may have had before. Yet, we worked together and she stood by me even in my worst. I am proud to have called her a comrade. A friend.”

A heavy silence lingered as they stood in the hallway of the elder man’s home. Eobard know that it was most likely stupid to say all of that, but his history and relationship with Kara was something he’d treasure and he just-he wanted to talk about it, about her with someone.

“You kept certain things from me in this last mission.” said James Mallory, putting his hand up to stop Eobard from interrupting. “We can sit here, blame and argue, but that would be pointless. A vampire fell and Ava Mallory has returned.

“Principal Kon, for those reasons you shall be promoted to Regional Administrator to an as-of-now unspecified region. You’ll report directly to me, mostly through Chiron, and your duties will begin next year. Until then you are dismissed.”

The underlying message was clear. Well not really. The optimistic side of Eobard heard this as James Mallory basically giving him the chance to grieve and resettle himself, while also rewarding him for aiding, even superficially, in this past mission. That, for once in his life, James Mallory was being a decent human being.

The other side of him saw this as James Mallory binding him to a leash by placing him in that position. Eobard would be under his, or Chiron’s, constant supervision, therefore he’d be unable to act as he would like.

“Thank you sir.” responded Eobard as he bowed his head.

Either way, he’d need to get close to Amdis and have a nice little conversation with him. Whoever that female vampire was, she was somewhere out there.

And he would find her.