Marvin remembered thinking that the Caelum Terra was awe-inspiring.

It had buildings that seemed to range from ancient and mediaeval to modern and pristine. There were all sorts of people wandering around, be they regular humans, dhampirs or a plethora of werebeasts in their regular forms.

It was tightly knit, with many tight alleyways seeming to branch off from the larger areas that Marvin wished he could explore. It was busy like a city, but it also seemed to radiate a sort of tranquil energy.

Of course, that had all been months ago.

On that day, the battle had ruined the whole place.

The plethora of diverse peoples was now reduced to either scared eyes staring through the windows of the buildings or poor souls attempting to run and hide from the devastation. Men, women and children that didn’t fully know or comprehend what was going on but had to suffer for it.

Just like five years ago, just like him.

The people dominating the area were still as diverse, with werebeasts, humans and dhampirs still running around. Only this time they were all dressed as soldiers, divided between two factions and fighting, causing all this chaos and destruction.

And Marvin, Marvin was not only unable to do anything about it, he was a part of it, he was at the center of it all.

Sure, he wasn’t fighting deliberately, and they were ultimately trying to save this whole place, but that didn’t stop him from relating to these people.

Marvin was still alongside Chiron and Amdis. The trio was sneaking across the aforementioned alleyways, moving towards the location of James Mallory’s world shattering plan.

“Marvin! Hurry up!” came the voice of Chiron in front of him, prompting Marvin to hurry up.

“Come on, boy! We don’t have all the time in the world,” said Amdis, practically hissing the second sentence out.

“Shut up.” growled Marvin. “Unlike you, I am not enjoying this.”

“But you’re doing it anyway, so you might as well be efficient. Besides, our goal is much more important than the lives of some fools. This will be what a million lifetimes have led towards!” smiled Amdis madly, a smile similar to the one he had back when Kara had beaten him.

Marvin’s eyes widened and his stomach dropped with the realisation. “You want to use her,” he said, images of Marly’s tattoos flashing in his mind. He clenched his fists. They were foolish enough to trust him, and it seemed they were going to pay the price.

The boy pushed the vampire behind him before holding his hands open, heptagram symbols appearing in them.

“You overestimate your importance, child.” growled Amdis. “You’ve grown and earned your importance in this battle, but in the grand scheme of things, you are just like a little boy with water guns going up against trained assassins. Do you really think you can stand against me? Or that you can win without me?”

Marvin was in a good place emotionally, at least better than he was when he actually fought against Amdis, but he couldn’t deny that those words still hurt. Still, he braced himself for whatever fight ensued.

“I’d say I have a good enough track record to take this risk,” said Marvin, trying to show a more confident front than what he actually felt on the inside. In truth, he didn't even know how to attack.

He could use an elemental spell or gleipnir without drawing a circle, or try to use one of the weapons he’d learned to master, but he wasn’t sure what would actually work against Amdis.

The aforementioned vampire’s pale face crinkled as he smiled arrogantly at Marvin. “Good, good. That’s the spirit. But can you stand like that against your little lady friend?”

Marvin faltered at the vampire’s question, before steeling himself once more. Amdis was his threat at that moment, and Amdis was the one standing before him. And Marvin wouldn’t let the vampire get to him again. He was broken out of his thoughts when he felt a heavy hand rest on his shoulder.

“Worry not, young man,” came Chiron’s hushed, and somewhat rushed-sounding voice. “Amdis is not our enemy. He will help us, but surely you understand beings such as this do not assist without asking for something in return.”

“It’s simply good business,” said Amdis airily as he strode past Marvin and Chiron. “Now come on, let’s hurry!”

“One use of the spell won’t hurt Marly,” continued the centaur as if Amdis hadn’t spoken. “It might cause some discomfort, or some mild pain, but it won’t cause any damage.”

“You are going into this with the expectation that you will be treated as a friend,” said Amdis, this time without turning around. “I have lived to see generations come and go, empires rise and fall. All to discover that the immortality I so craved in my youth, was the grandest scam in history.”

“What’s your point?” asked Marvin, not really understanding where the vampire was heading with this.

Amdis sighed in response. “I told you this when the young Mallory girl was taken: cherish your mortality,” he said as he turned to Chiron. “Now then, centaur, how about we resume our saving of this world? I’ve waited an eternity for this.”

Chiron nodded and led the trio into another array of tight alleyways and small roads, Marvin and Amdis trailing behind.

As they walked through the maze that Caelum Terra evidently was, Marvin turned to the vampire, once again seeing him with a look on his face more determined than he’d seen anyone be.

The more poetic part of himself wanted to call this the determination built over a thousand lifetimes. Regardless of that, the intensity in his eyes, his expression, even the very few wrinkles on his face were evident.

He’d never expected to think this, but he was actually feeling almost sorry for him. He didn’t know when, how, or why he ended up like this, like a vampire, but for the first time he didn’t feel just intimidation or hate towards him.

Now, he also pitied the man.

A being who had lived for so long and seen so much that everything had lost meaning. Who only had his death to look forward to. If he squinted hard enough, Marvin might have also seen himself somewhere in there.

For five years he was simply going by the motions, shutting himself off and going off of his bitterness, with only Grandma and Annie being positive influences. It was only through Marly’s care, Adam’s friendship, and even his love-hate relationship with CB that he escaped that.

And he was on the verge of losing all of that before it even properly set in. All because of the machinations of old fools and apathetic monsters who were willing to destroy everything for their goals.

He turned to look forward.

The moment everything would be decided was nearly there. And he couldn’t afford to fail.