Breakfast.

It was around nine a.m. and Marvin found himself once again sitting with Adam, Jacob and Trevon for the meal.

The trio had started hanging out together since junior high, and there was a closeness that they had with each other that Marvin did not possess. A feeling similar to the one he had whenever he was with CB, Marly and Adam.

He’d always tried to push his sadness and anger at the fact that he was always the new guy, the outsider as far down as he could but, after the previous night, he found himself contemplating these feelings once again.

Marly had revealed what he assumed was one of her greatest secrets to him. They could have something that was their own. And the trio in front of him appeared willing to welcome him into their friend group. And yet he felt his hands shake even as he was eating.

Why did it all feel so wrong?

“Yo Marv, are you alright?” came the voice of Trevon, breaking Marvin from his thoughts.

“Yeah I’m-excuse me, Marv?”

“Yeah. A nickname I came up with.” enthusiastically Trevon, while continuing his-nearly empty-meal.

It was quite possibly the stupidest nickname Marvin had ever heard of, although not the worst thing he was ever called. Still, he could not find it in himself to ruin his classmate’s enthusiasm.

“I don’t think I’ve heard a worse nickname in my life.” Adam however, judging by his words and smirking face, didn’t have such hangups.

“Hey, I’ll have you know I-”

“I would greatly appreciate it if you didn’t shout this much.” cut in Jacob’s tired sounding monotone voice, interruptin whatever indignant response. Truth be told, Jacob didn’t look that good. His eyes had dark circles underneath them, and he just looked like he hadn’t slept at all last night.

“Are you having trouble sleeping again? Or is anyone messing with you again? You know you can talk to us right?” stated Adam, squeezing the blonde’s shoulder.

“I never stopped having trouble with sleep Adam, but that wasn’t my main issue last night. People going around from room to room was rather unpleasant. And the talks about Marly Mallory were unending. How can these people have nothing better to do than stick their noses in others’ business? Some of them stood outside our room talking about her going to some person’s room late at night. It was frankly unbearable.” ranted Jacob, a hint of annoyance leaking in his humdrum voice.

Marvin’s eyes widened. Unless Marly went around having any party or sleepover of sorts after their conversation, it was his room they saw her going in. Which means that, if anyone found out, then he’d find himself at the firing range of the school’s gossip. Fun.

Still, as Kara’s words and Marly’s branded back came to mind, he found himself wishing that was his main concern.

“Hey, Trevon, how about you take Jacob up to our room.” suggested Adam. Jacob opened his mouth to protest, but Adam cut him off. “I’ll be frank with you man. You need sleep and I don’t trust you to not fall asleep on the way. And Trevon, you are the only one to have finished breakfast, so don’t you also start complaining.”

Begrudgingly, the duo got up and went to their room. After they had left, Adam turned to Marvin and sighed. “Tread carefully.”

“What do you mean?”

“Getting too close with Marly is more complicated than you can imagine. Especially considering whatever disaster is in the future. You can’t trust any of them. Hell, you met because she nearly got you killed with her negligence! When it comes down to it, a Mallory only cares about their family, nothing else.” explained Adam, the bitterness in his voice evident.

Come to think of it, Adam was the only one who wasn’t holding himself accountable for Ava’s demise. Marvin always assumed that was because he had managed to make peace with himself, but maybe he was wrong once more. He stared intently at Adam, unsure whether he should continue down this path. If he were correct that would be one thing, but if he wasn’t then he wouldn’t want to bring awful memories to the surface.

“You could melt glass with that look.” chuckled the dark skinned teen. “We had been bothering Ava for a week. Begging her to take us somewhere and show off her magical abilities. A few days before we left, I heard her and her grandfather talking. Me and CB were hanging out with Marly, and I was going to the bathroom. Being a nosy thirteen year old, I eavesdropped.

“The commander told Ava-and I remember it like it was yesterday-he told her that it was trying times. If anything were to happen, she was to save Marly and herself. That it didn’t matter what happened to me and CB. Ava agreed. For my entire life we had looked to her as a big sister and she didn’t even hesitate. For a while I convinced myself that she had lied. But-but she said it still haunts my dreams. She wasn’t lying. I know that from the bottom of my heart. CB didn’t believe me. So I distanced myself from both him and Marly. I ran away from the whole situation until you came along. And this mission. I’m going to find out the truth, whatever that is.”

Ava Mallory.

Marvin had heard so much about the woman that it was nearly impossible for him to expect anything else than a saint. And now, hearing this, he wanted to meet her even more. To find out what really happened that day. If she really had said that.

A Mallory only cares about their family, nothing else

Even if it was true for her sister and her grandfather, it wouldn’t hold true for Marly. He looked over at the heterochromatic, laughing and talking with her friends. She had secrets, but he had seen her darkest .He had seen her at her lowest. He had seen her true self. When it came down to it, she wouldn’t let him die.

Would she? Was that the reason everything felt so wrong?

For the first time after that damned incident which caused him his parents he was close to being happy. For so long he had nothing outside of his grandmother and cousin. He owed it to them. He owed it to his parents and everyone that died that day.

“I’m going to risk it.” he told Adam, looking him in the eye. “I’m probably going to regret it, but these past few months have been some of the best I’ve had. Even with all the craziness, drama and pain they have brought. I don’t-I don’t want to lose that. I have plans with Marly, so I won’t be able to hang with you today.”

“Don’t worry, I just thought I’d warn you. I just hope that even if I’m not wrong that the others’ disregard isn’t a hereditary thing.” Shrugging, Adam continued his breakfast.

He also muttered something that Marvin could not hear and didn’t respond to. They continued eating their meal in silence. After they were done, they went back to their respective rooms, slowly falling back to some semblance of normal conversation.

A few minutes after that, Marvin found himself once more getting dressed, only this time he was wearing long sleeved jean pants and a button up shirt, careful to avoid showing any form of scarring, and as little of his prosthesis as he could. Granted it was probably too hot for those clothes, but he couldn’t imagine it’d be pleasant for either of them if Marly stood next to him and he was so exposed.

For a moment he contemplated foregoing his glasses but quickly rejected the idea. Making himself practically half-blind was not a solution, and he would only use contact lenses when hell froze over. Three faint knocks broke him out of his thoughts.

“Got a date roomie?” teased one of his roommates whose name Marvin couldn’t remember, as he opened the door before the dark haired teen could stop him. His eyes widened as he saw Marly stand there.

“Is Marvin here?” she asked, looking genuinely annoyed at the poor guy who’d opened the door.

“I’m here.” he answered, hurriedly, practically running to the door to stop any confrontation that might have happened between the two. He quickly exchanged goodbyes with what's-his-face before he and Marly were off.

“You can’t tell me you aren’t feeling any heat.” smirked Marly after a few seconds of silence, looking at him straight in the eyes. Compared to her shorts and t-shirt, he must have looked like he was ready for winter.

A weird thing he noticed for the first time that day was that, when they’d first met, Marly was a bit taller than him, but now they were at the same level. Whilst he never gave much thought to his height, he was a bit happy that he was at least not the shortest person in the room anymore.

“Cat got your tongue Marvin?” teased Marly, her smile growing even more. “Or maybe you see something you like?” she whispered, getting in his personal space.

“I-I-uh-” stammered Marvin, unable to form a cohesive response.

The evil blonde broke out laughing a second later, muttering something about how he was still too easy. Having more flashbacks to their first series of meetings than he would like, Marvin let out a breath in relief.

“You really are evil, you know that?”

“You may not be the sharpest tool in the shed, but you catch on quick.”

“If you’re not careful I’ll bust out my southern slang and you’ll regret every life choice you made that led you here.” shot back Marvin.

They soon fell into a good rhythm, but that feeling of wrongness kept nagging at him. And Adam’s words were repeating themselves in his head.

A Mallory only cares about their family, nothing else.

--

Eobard was pissed. He’d been on this school trip for a grand total of three days and this was the third time he and Kara were ‘summoned’ by James Mallory. This was a world where one wrong word could set off a chain reaction that would ultimately lead to his death.

Perhaps a more optimistic person would attempt to challenge this view, but even that hypothetical individual would agree that pissing off one of the most highly decorated members of the organization was a mistake.

“Two days ago you basically told me to watch my words. Don’t forget to follow your own advice.” came Kara’s voice from next to him.

She wasn’t wrong. At least this time they were at the hotel’s basement, the floor’s compass star and heptagrams being the only things breaking the blandness, giving the duo more of a home field advantage than they had before. Even if it was only slight.

The doors to the room opened, revealing a less tired looking James Mallory, wearing a navy blue military suit, with four golden bars in his shoulders, and a giant M decorating his jacket. The only weapon he appeared to have was a sheathed sword at his hip. Chiron in his human form was behind him wearing an identical suit, with only two missing bars being the difference.

“We don’t have time for formalities. We have found the way to save my granddaughter and forever stop the fiend that has her. Bring me Marvin Perlie.” stated the commander before anyone else could get a word in.

“You interfered with our mission? And you then came here demanding to see my people?” snapped Eobard, forgetting all about his policy of carefully choosing his words.

A man like James Mallory wouldn’t get his hands on Marvin if he had anything to say about it. One of the greatest leaders in the Association. He knew how much blood had to be spilled for that. He’d seen what his lot was capable of five years ago.

Before the older man could respond, Chiron stepped between the two, patting the air as a placating gesture. “Please gentlemen. We need to work together. Eobard, you are correct. We did interfere. You requested a team be sent to specific coordinates and the commander found out. So he sent me to accompany siad team. The place is a mountain an hour away known as Blood Mountain.” explained the centaur, trying to keep the peace between the two men.

“I’m assuming some sort of magical defense was at play?” wondered Kara, looking at Chiron.

“A protective field.” answered the centaur. “It was made so only a specific person could pass through it. I think you can guess who that person is.”

“Which is why we need him.” cut in James Mallory. “Marvin Perlie will be sent in to scout the situation. He will have a camera on him and we’ll see everything he does. I will take over, while Chiron temporarily takes my place in the other battlefields as I take care of this.”

“No.” stated Kara, stepping past Chiron to the aging blonde. “You said there’s no time for formalities so here’s the situation as it is. Marvin is my apprentice and if you think I’ll let you kill him then you’re in for a treat.”

“ Don’t presume you can ignore my orders. If you have a better plan then I’d like to hear it. Otherwise he is an acceptable sacrifice.”

“As a matter of fact I do. No spell is perfect. Give me a couple of hours to study the field and I’ll find a way to negate it. Marvin is talented in spite of his youth, so I’ll be able to teach it to him. We have the rest of today and two more days to make this work.” explained Kara, a smug look on her face as the commander seemed impressed at her plan.

“They underestimated us.” declared Eobard to the whole room. “We may not see eye to eye, but last time we met commander you said you wanted your family back and safe. In order for that to happen we must defeat the vampire that has Ava at his own game. The way we do that is by not acting the way he wants us to. By trusting us.”

“Very well. I will trust your expertise on the magical side of things. I shall however, lead a small unit into battle after you have dealt with the field. But if your plan fails then I will bring down the wrath of the entire Association onto you as well as that vampire, damn the casualties and consequences.” growled the commander, looking at both Kara and Eobard.

In time James Mallory would have to prove his worth, back his words with action, Eobard was sure of that. As it would for him, for Chiron, Kara, and everyone else.

In spite of any differences they had, he could only hope that when that time came they’d live up to their declarations because what was coming, it was bigger than them and-as much as he hated to admit it-only together could they stop it.