Amdis was an ally. And Eobard was the man who brought him in.

To say that Marvin had difficulty comprehending and accepting the situation would be an understatement. He’d always been adamant that he trusted Eobard. Even going as far as plotting against the Association with him and Kara. Not anything outrageous of course, but he had the distinct impression that crossing James Mallory wasn’t the best idea. Still, he’d do it all over again if he could.

“Marvin.” his grandmother’s voice broke him out of his thoughts.

“I’m sorry grandma. What did you say?” he said, eating a piece of his pancakes.

Usually he’d eat cereal for breakfast, and his grandmother would make a simple sandwich for herself. But, since they had a guest over, the woman had decided to make some pancakes and scrambled eggs for breakfast. Not that he was complaining.

“Morning.” came a voice from the kitchen’s door. Turning around, Marvin was thankful for the fact he wasn’t drinking anything, because a spit take wasn’t something his grandma would appreciate, not this early in the morning at least. There stood Marly, in all her sleepy glory, with a blanket around her body, dual coloured eyes partially closed.

“Well, I reckon you slept well then?” he smirked as Marly took a seat at the kitchen table next to him.

“Heh, you spoke southern.” snorted Marly, accepting her breakfast with a thank you directed at the older woman.

Shaking his head, Marvin continued with his breakfast. Truth be told, he didn’t know how he’d make it through the crazy vampire-fighting, monster-slaying, intensive magical training part of his life without this.

Glancing at the fridge, where the singular picture of his parents with a much younger version of himself sat-neither of them liked taking photos much-he allowed himself a small smile.

He could only hope he was on his way to making them proud of who he was, even if that meant he had to work with a being that not six months ago he considered his greatest enemy.

And of course a dope slap by none other than Marly broke him out of his thoughts.

“Pay attention to your grandma dummy.” she said sleepily. A sleepy Marly was not to be confused with a docile Marly.

“And what are you going to be doing today Marvin? said his grandma with a small smile.

“I’m probably going to go to the library, study for a bit.” he said, hating himself more with each word. He was lying through his teeth of course. He was going to wait for Ava to contact him, and hopefully advance to the next stage of his training.

“You really need to pace yourself, my boy.” gently chided his grandma.

“Really, I’m fine.” reassured Marvin. “I really enjoy it.” And he wasn’t lying. Magic, or rather certain aspects of it, had captured his sense of wonder.

He still remembered the first times he used the Ignis spell, not through the lighter but normally. He also enjoyed reading about the history of the art, like the creation of the Caelum Terra, which he had recently found out took the collective power of one hundred sorcerers to produce.

“About that.” said Marly, this time sounding more awake than before. “Ava told me to tell you that you should meet her outside our school at about ten.”

“Ava?” questioned Marvin’s grandmother.

“My sister.” responded Marly, removing the blanket from her person and putting it on the chair’s back. “She took over for Miss Snow.” she explained somberly.

Suddenly the remainder of his breakfast didn’t seem too appealing to Marvin.

“Yeah.” Marvin cleared his throat. “You saw my grades grandma, I barely managed to not fail. I need this.” he said, and he wasn’t lying. Magic training had some lessons that made him a better student. Especially during exams and tests since he wasn’t really as anxious as he would normally be.

And so the rest of the morning went by, Marvin found himself outside of the school at a quarter before ten. Marly had left earlier, going back to her house in order to pack some more stuff, because apparently the-Marvin was sure literal-tons of things she’d packed the other day weren’t enough. His grandmother left to go to whatever old lady gatherings she attended.

So, not wanting to be home alone to brew in the pot of his own stress, he rode the train to school in order to arrive early.

“Marvin?” He heard a voice to his right after a few minutes, turning to see Ava standing there with a brunette woman around the same age as her. After exchanging a quick goodbye with her, the elder Mallory sister turned to him, smirking.

“I like to show up early in order to bug people about being late because I’m nice like that.” she said. And, based on her tone, Marvin wasn’t sure if she was kidding or not.

“I was stressed.” admitted Marvin, thinking of ways to change the subject. “Can I ask who that woman was?”

“She-she’s my roommate.” Ava actually blushed in a way he’d seen younger girls in his school do and for some reason that led to him chortling briefly.

“You live with your family and what I’m sure is a ghost butler.” he quipped, some of his anxiety leaving him.

“I moved out last week. I may be proud of my heritage, but I’m twenty one years old.” she said, and he noticed that she was wearing her Conduit. A ring with an M on its top. “And even if there is something… more going on there, I won’t mention anything to grandpa, and neither will you. He’s overprotective enough as it is.”

Overprotective. Suddenly Adam’s confession on his true reasons for wanting Ava rescued came to mind. As did Marly’s tattoos. If his theory, which was more of a hunch based on his general dislike of the man to be honest, was true then there was definitely more to James Mallory than overprotectiveness.

“What about you?” he asked, looking at her straight in her light blue eyes. “Are you also overprotective?”

“Very.” smiled Ava, rubbing the ring which was on her right ring finger. “So you better be kind to my little sister or else they’ll never find the body.”

He forced a laugh, and he only hoped she’d buy it. Somewhere in the back of his mind he was sure that she wasn’t kidding, considering she was apparently willing to leave CB and Adam to die two years ago. He could ask her right now, but he had the feeling such a question didn’t have an ending where their relationship, whatever little of it existed, survived.

As much as he hated to admit it, he needed Ava and the rest of the Mallory clan on his side. As it stood now, they were his only way into the supernatural world, and he wasn’t willing to lose his relationship with Marly, or his future as a sorcerer.

“So, what are we going to be doing today?” he asked, finally breaching the subject of the day.

“Glad you asked.” smiled Ava. “What do you know of the Magesmiths?”

“Not a lot.” He’d come across the name before, and he understood that they were powerful, but he legitimately didn’t know much about them.

“To put it simply, they’re the bosses. Rank One commanders are the military heads, and there are people heading the political and economic sides to the IDA. But the Magesmiths, they are the Association’s top dogs.” explained the woman, leading Marvin into the open, but empty outside of some people doing paperwork, school.

“Why are we going to Kara’s lab?” asked Marvin as they made their way to the elevator inside Eobard’s office.

More importantly, why were his hands trembling? He was on the Association’s side-Blood Mountain plans notwithstanding. Shit, he had also met with Amdis the day before. Sure he didn’t plan it, but what if they somehow read his mind and misinterpreted the events. Who was going to believe him?

“They also make weapons. The ones that can be summoned. And while generic ones, like your bow and shield, are fine, you need something more proper.”

Opening the door to the messy workspace, he was once again met with something he didn’t accept. Three people-he only knew they were people because only humans could use magic, something he only recently read about-stood there.

It was impossible to make out their age, gender, race or anything about them. They were dressed in white robes with a black stripe and golden buttons down the middle. Their hands were gloved, and their hooded faces were covered with golden masks that must have made it impossible for them to see.

“Honorable Magesmiths.” Ava bowed lightly, and Marvin did the same believing that was what he was meant to do.

“Rise, young ones.” spoke the one in the middle. Marvin noticed that the voice sounded like two people speaking at once, both a man and woman. Whoever these guys were, they went to great lengths to disguise their identities.

“You are Marvin of the Perlie lineage, correct?” spoke the one on the right, voice similarly altered.

“Yes? Yes.” said Marvin nervously, not sure whether a sir or a ma’am or any sort of acknowledgement of their rank would be appropriate or wanted.

The left one nodded at his response. “Nearly six months of training have you been through. Many obstacles you have faced. Three vampires have been in your road, as well as three of their hybrids and a powerful sorceress. While you were never alone in these encounters, you played an integral part in their successes.”

And the one being he had managed to capture, Amdis, was out and he would probably have to work with him. Of course he wasn’t going to mention that, nor was he going to argue with these apparently uber powerful people on his merits as a sorcerer and warrior.

“If I may-” said Ava timidly, looking at the three, “-Marvin was also a big part of my rescue, and I’d like to officially thank him.”

She had thanked him once before, but it felt different this time. No matter what she had agreed on that day, Marvin was certain there was at least some good within Ava Mallory, he just hoped it wasn’t outweighed by the part that was willing to let other people die in order to save someone from the Mallory family.

He understood being protective of your family. He also understood placing it above all else. What he didn’t understand was the willingness to let twelve year olds fend for themselves. The middle one nodded, and all of the Magesmiths held their hands open, all pointing at Marvin.

“We grant you, Marvin Perlie, the official recognition of a sorcerer apprentice now that your trial period has ended.” they said all at once. It sounded as if only one of them was speaking, but the dark haired teen knew that wasn’t the case. He could almost feel them being in sync.

A golden heptagram glowed through each of their gloved hands. A glowing, golden double circle, with a heptagram inscribed into it appeared on the floor. Just like the one all those months ago remembered Marvin, suddenly feeling weak in the knees.

“Albedo!” spoke the four voices at once.

On cue, a terrible, painstaking whiteness overtook all of his senses.