Marvin suddenly found himself in a bathroom, looking at his reflection in the mirror.

“What? Where am I?” he asked as he breathed heavily.

No one else was there, and it very clearly wasn’t a public bathroom based on its appearance. If the small shampoo bottles and generally clean aesthetic were anything to go by, it was most likely the bathroom of his hotel room.

How did he get there? What had happened.

Looking down, he saw that an open envelope was sitting within the sink, and it was thankfully still dry. It was most likely Marly’s letter.

Marly…

He took a deep breath to steady himself, trying to remember what had happened. He was in the presentation room, Ava had just left, and he had made a promise alongside Adam and CB to make a clean new beginning for themselves after this was all done.

And it wouldn’t be just them, Marly would be there as well. Hell, if he had completely understood what was happening, the whole world was about to undergo major changes.

“What did you write to me?” he said, not speaking to anyone in particular. At times like these, speaking his concerns was the best way to make everything feel more grounded. Especially considering the world they were residing in.

Taking the letter fully out of the envelope, Marvin hesitated to read it. If his vision was true, if that thing, whatever it was, showed him the truth, then Marly was leaning towards helping her grandfather. Helping James Mallory.

Opening it up, he was surprised to find only a few words written on it. He chuckled as he struggled to understand what was written since Marly’s letters were surprisingly crude. He had never seen her write, especially odd since they were classmates, but this somehow provided him with the perfect form of levity he needed.

He was weird, but then again what wasn’t?

I trust you. Please help me.

And yet, any form of levity was gone when he read those words. His frown deepened a lot, and he had to struggle in order to not rip the whole letter apart and throw it away.

What did that mean?

Help her bring her grandfather’s plans to fruition? Help her make the right choice? The latter would be more beneficial, but how would that make him any different to James Mallory?

He created and manipulated Marly and Ava. He literally cloned his dead wife and daughter in order to create them, all so he could have two perfect little soldiers for his genocidal plans.

Sure Marvin’s goals were objectively better, at least he hoped they were, but in practice, he wasn’t going to do anything much different to James. He was going to use the trust Marly had in him to make her do what he wanted and stop this plan from succeeding. Asking Marly to betray the only family she had ever known. And he still believed it was just as likely that she would refuse.

The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.

And that was the best case scenario.

“Marvin? Are you alright?” his grandma called, knocking on the door.

“Grandma?” called Marvin, crumpling the letter in his hand. “Can you help me with something?” he said before he could stop himself.

Maybe it was for the best though. His grandma’s advice could be what he needed at that moment.

“I’m afraid I can’t help you with matters that you need to be in the bathroom for my boy!” laughed grandma, and Marvin followed suit in spite of himself.

He took one last look at the letter before turning to the door with a small smile on his face. How did his life get to be like this, he would never know.

“Don’t worry, I’m fully clothed,” he said lightly.

He had gotten into the bathroom because he had felt this vision, or whatever the hell it was coming. After their talk in the presentation room was finished, he got back up to the room to prepare himself before he got breakfast with everyone else.

And then the weird magic bullcrap happened.

“I need some advice,” he said quietly.

The door opened and his grandma appeared, in all her ageing glory.

She gestured for Marvin to exit the room, probably not excited about spending her time in a cramped bathroom. Alright maybe it wasn’t so cramped, but that didn’t change much.

He went outside, sitting on the double bed of the room, with his grandma sitting on his right. She looked much older than she was at that moment. She was clearly tired, sad even if she was trying to hide it.

It hit him like a ton of bricks then that, swept up by everything else that was going on, Marvin didn’t even consider talking to his grandmother about the fact that their house was nearly destroyed and that they were forced to stay at a hotel for Lord knows how long.

“How are you doing grandma?” he said almost ashamedly, putting his hand on the older woman’s shoulder.

“Me? I’m fine Marvin. What’s wrong with you?” she said with an air of ease, attempting to bring the topic back to his issues.

He was almost tempted to go along with her, but he steeled himself.

“We went through something big. Before I ask anything from you, I just-I just want to know that you’re alright. Our home will be fixed, you know that right?” he said, moving to hug the woman.

“I know, I know,” she said with a sigh. “It’s not that.”

“What is it then?”

She sighed once more. “Marvin, I outlived my one son and I barely talk to the other. I guess this whole thing made me rethink some things. In spite of what happened, I should have made more of an effort to connect to him.” she admitted, sounding like this was something she wanted to say for a long time.

“Maybe you still can,” said Marvin immediately. He didn’t particularly like his aunt or uncle but he wanted to see his grandma happy, not to mention Annie as well. With an improved relationship between them, surely they’d get to spend more time with her as well.

Before he could say any of that however, there was a knock on the room’s door.

“Oh look at that.” his grandma got up, going to open the door.

On instinct, Marvin rushed to get in front of his grandma in order to open the door himself. The events of the past few days had put him on edge, and he wanted to make sure she wouldn’t be in any potential trouble.

He opened the door carefully, relieved to see that it was Eobard who was on the other side.

“Get ready Marvin,” he instructed and his tone made tension creep its way back to Marvin’s body. “The battle for Caelum Terra will now begin.”