Amdis lunged at the Magesmish, reaching speeds Marvin had only seen back at the climax of the Blood Mountain battle. The Magesmith managed to block the vampire’s attack with their arm, actually fighting against him on equal footing. Marvin never even heard the Magesmish call out a spell.

“The people!” shouted Marly. “Someone could see-”

“I wouldn’t worry my dear Marly.” said Alpha as he charged straight at Marvin.

“Aspis tou-” Before Marvin could complete his chant, Alpha’s hand found its way around his throat. The dhampir lifted the dark haired teen effortlessly, smiling a wide smile as he did so.

“Come on Marvin!” said Alpha gleefully. “You burned a hybrid alive! You held your own against a vampire and made it out alive-hell you practically defeated one. Become that person! Your whole neighbourhood has been evacuated, a barrier obscuring what’s happening in here. Go wild!”

“Why-Why do-do you care so-muc-much?” coughed Marvin as he struggled against the stronger boy’s hold.

“Oi!” came a voice from behind Alpha.

The dhampir barely had time to drop Marvin and get out of the blade’s way-as well as the way of one very angry Marly Mallory. The girl stepped forward, the grace and precision often present in her movements discarded in favour of some anger-fueled attacks that Alpha was able to block and dodge even without a sword in his own hand.

The area that was once Marvin’s grandmother’s living room had turned into a battlefield between the two hybrid teenagers, while the Magesmith and Amdis fought like blurs on the street-the sunlight dulled by a barrier so Amdis wasn’t affected like in Blood Mountain-while Maria Rockwell and Yui not far away from them as they battled among themselves. There were also about a dozen Association soldiers, half pointing their guns inside the house, the other half outside.

It was then that a realisation hit Marvin. Maria Rockwell and Amdis. Both were people that he didn’t like. That he hated. People that had, each in different ways, caused him to lose something dear to him, or at least tried to.

And yet, here he was, fighting against people that he considered to be the good guys-even if he didn’t like them particularly-and standing with the people he considered to be scum.

What was Eobard thinking? Was this, any of this, planned by him. And what exactly is the deal with Marly and her tattoos? And he had about a billion more questions. Enough was enough.

“Toxon tou Apollona.”

“Oh! Show me what you’ve planned, Mavin Perlie!” smiled Alpha, grabbing Marly’s sword-holding arm and headbutting her so hard she stumbled back.

That prick. That arrogant prick. It would be so simple to shoot him. Get in a fight with him, maybe calm Marly down a little and together they’d beat him. But no, he wasn’t the threat.

Focusing on the bow, Marvin whispered, “Multi.”

The shot was fired, splitting into twelve shots, all headed towards Amdis and the Magesmith. They both broke off, dodging the arrows.

In the following moment, both sorceresses present stopped targeting each other, instead yelling Ignis at the two most powerful beings of the battlefield. A couple of the trees in the neighbourhood caught fire as a result, causing Marvin to curse himself inwardly.

They both managed to dodge the attacks once more however, Amdis himself leaping back into the building, landing between Marly and Alpha. Surprisingly enough, he looked almost tired.

“What’s going on here?” said Marvin, not caring about the volume of his voice. “Don’t we-doesn’t Marly at least, supposedly the centre of this whole thing, have the right to know?”

“The boy is right.” said the Magesmish. “The time for some truths to be said is nigh. Take him and leave. Let the Mallory girl stay with us, and you shall all be excused for the day.”

“No.” said Marvin, standing closer to Marly. “I won’t accept this.”

“Marly?” asked Yui, the battle between the sorceresses being all but forgotten about. “What is your decision?”

“What about Ava? My grandfather?” asked Marly, the desperation in her voice.

“Scattered across the world just like the rest of the Association forces.” responded the Magesmith. “You shall go to them if you wish.”

“Oh come on now, Magesmith.” chuckled Amdis as he stretched. “Are you really that scared to face your retribution?”

“Retribution is near, vampire. For all of us.” said the Magesmish without turning to look at Amdis.

“I-Marvin is pardoned.” said Marly suddenly. “He hasn’t committed any crimes, none at all. He will come with us.”

“That cannot happen.”

“We’ll take the boy with us.” sighed Maria. “I’m his cousin’s babysitter and live with him. Let us have a truce for today before we start another war over two teenagers.”

“We are in agreement then.” nodded the Magesmith. “Let the boy be pardoned as well. As long as we return with Marly Mallory and only her. You have not realised it yet but you have already lost.”

“But I-”

“Marvin please.” said Marly as she hugged the dark haired teen.

“I trust you. More than you know. As friends, or whatever more.” said Marvin as he hugged her back.

“Come on now Marvin.” said Marly in a forcefully cheerful tone. “This isn’t goodbye. I’ll clear everything with my grandpa and everything will get back to normal. So don’t-don’t be silly.”

They pulled back from each other. This wasn’t fair. He had lost his parents. Kara. And now-now he was losing Marly as well. But maybe-maybe she could figure this out with her grandpa, maybe-wait, why was she crying?

Before he could question anything every Association member in sight vanished in a flash of light. She was gone.

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

“Shut your mouth.” said Marvin, in a bitter tone he hadn’t used since his confrontations with bullies in his middle school. “It’s all your fault! Both of you! If you weren’t here then-”

“Cherish that feeling Marvin.” said Amdis in an unusually soft tone. “That is the benefit of mortality.”

“What?”asked Marvin and Maria simultaneously.

“That feeling, every feeling other than the pure joy at the prospect of finally reaching death has lost all meaning to me. To all vampires. You are here because you want to live.

“That’s why, even when you were at your lowest you kept on going. You are here because you want to live. I told you something in one of our first meetings. You are meaningless in this world. You are nothing. And yet you have had so much impact. And you are still needed, wanted. So fight.”

“Just to be clear, I didn’t sign up for this nonsense.” said Maria. “I joined up for revenge and stayed because I don’t really want to see a world dominated by those IDA fools.”

Good God Marvin was messed up. He was actually getting inspired by Amdis. Did he go insane? Maybe Eobard went insane as well and that was the reason he teamed up with these two.

But he had made his choice. He hadn’t stood up in the negotiations, even though it probably wouldn’t have done him any good either way. The Magesmith, in spite of attacking first, seemed to only care about isolating Marly and taking her with him-or her.

He wanted answers. He wanted to know who he could really trust. He wanted to-dammit he wanted to be in control. No large schemes or plans that he didn’t know about. Even so Amdis, the messed up psychopath that he was, had a point.

Marvin wanted his friends, his family. He wanted to live. And it was all starting here. He would reunite with his friends. He would do his part in saving the world. Even if he had to work with these two.

For his parents and grandma. For Annie. For his friends. For Marly. For himself.

“I’ll come with you.” he said, clenching his fists.