The Messenger of Death

"Huh?" Alex exclaimed. "What do you mean by that?" He asked and tried to get out of Nana's hands, but just like his earlier attempts, he failed to achieve that.

"What do you mean by what do I mean by that, isn't it clear enough? Some people in my clan will come after you because of this mark, not only my clan people, clans that are under the management of my clan will come after you because of this mark." Nana added.

Nana let go of Alex. "Stay still, I'm not done." She said.

"Another mark?" Alex muttered.

"Something like that."

"Hope I'm not getting married to you?" Alex wanted to confirm.

"Only if you want to." Nana chuckled.

"I'm serious," Alex stated.

"Hmm, no, if I am, to be honest, this mark that I put on you is supposed to be given to the person that they wanted me to get married to. But it doesn't actually mean that we are getting married, it is a mark that is given to those that important to the direct descendants of my clan. In my case, it means marriage.

They asked me not to give it to anyone but my husband, but here I am giving it to my precious disciple." A mischievous smile crawled up her lips.

"I thought you were strong enough to do almost anything that you chose to do, why can't you force them into giving up on the idea of giving out your hand in marriage?" Alex wondered.

"That is almost true, although I am strong, I'm not invisible. There a few people in my clan that are stronger than me, my maternal grandfather, mother, and father; they are beyond me and if I chose to force anything, I might get in trouble with them."

"Why are your parents so eager to give you away?" He frowned. Slowly, Alex started to get angry. He recalled the Sheila was also forced to marry Kain, all because her family wanted to get closer to the organization. And Kain was still the one that killed her in the end.

"Let me guess, they are trying to get on the good side of a stronger clan, right." He stated furiously.

"Hahaha." Nana began laughing, not at the fact that Alex was getting angry in her stead, but at the statement that he made. The part where he said that her family was trying to get on the good side of a stronger clan.

"Why are you laughing?!" He snapped at her.

Nana stopped laughing as she pulled one of his ears. "Don't raise your voice at me boy." Although she was warning him, she didn't sound like she was being serious.

She was actually touched that Alex was getting angry for her in her stead. "I'm laughing because you think that my clan needs to get on the good side of other clans in the celestial realm. It was funny to hear that.

Let me tell you this, only the royal families in the celestial realm can go against my clan, the rest would not even dare to do so." Nana boasted.

"Are they that strong?" Alex thought out loud.

"Yeah."

"Then why do they want to marry you out?"

"Internal clan strife and there is something that they want but cannot obtain with force, and unfortunately for me, I am the only chip that they can use for a bargain."

He didn't like the fact that his master might go through the same thing that Sheila had to go through.

"My parents are not eager to give me away per se. only my father is, my mother still hasn't said anything and my grandfather is… he's somewhere else and wouldn't answer me until I'm in danger – which will rarely ever happen."

"Then run away." Alex blurted out.

"That is not an option, doing this is better than running away from my clan. My mark will bring troubles to you, but I believe that you will be able to take care of those troubles. You can kill them if you want.

Once you have made a name for yourself, I will inform my clan about your bloodline and the primordial beast from which you got it. That should be enough to change the course of things. But if you meet people that you cannot deal with, I will take care of them for you, after all, I am your master and no one is allowed to touch without my permission." Nana informed.

"Initially, I wasn't planning to bring you to the ordain plain realm. I was going to take you somewhere in the lower plain realm, but because I need to advertise the mark on your neck to the world, I have to take you to the ordain plain realm." She added.

"Why don't you just tell them about my bloodline now, rather than later?" Alex didn't mind that Nana was using him now, maybe it was because Sheila went through the same thing and she was one of the few that could make it past the walls that he had around his heart.

Now that Nana, someone that seemed to be putting cracks on that wall around his heart without him knowing, might be going through something similar, Alex didn't care if he was being used.

"Because if I did that now, they will most likely take you away from me. And I'd rather get married than let happen to you." Nana uttered softly.

"Just because they want me doesn't mean that I will go to them." Alex declared.

Nana flicked the side of his head softly with her finger, "Say that when you have the power to back that statement." She muttered.

"But-"

"That's enough of my clan, for now, I will tell you more later." Nana interrupted Alex.

Alex stayed silent. "Don't worry too much about it, I can take care of myself. If it gets too dangerous I will remove the mark and take you to a safe place."

She removed a hairpin from her storage ring. The hairpin looked like it was made with a deep-blue metamorphic rock, like a lapis lazuli, the whole thing was deep blue and firm to the touch. Nana gathered Alex's midnight curly hair and neatly rolled it for him.

Nana used her hands to patch up the part of Alex's hair that still looked rough.

"I like my hair the way it is," Alex mentioned.

Alex turned and faced Nana. "You look better and refined like this." She pushed his shoulder and turned his body, making his back face her once again.

He took a glance at the hairpin. He saw the pointed tip of the pin and then the head that was shaped like the mark that Nana put him not too long ago. The difference was that the one on Alex's nape was just a circle with a dot in the middle, while the one on the hairpin was like a dream catcher.

"Why is this shaped like a dream catcher?" Alex asked.

"A dream catcher, what's that?" Nana obviously didn't know what a dream catcher is.

"A dream catcher is like… a protective talisman that is used to protect people from nightmares and bad dreams. It's like a good luck charm." He explained.

"A talisman, why haven't I heard of one like this?" She wondered.

"It's from where I come from…"

"Oh."

"As my disciple, you have to look like a refined person," Nana said.

"Why should I look refined when my master doesn't even want to dress properly?" Alex mocked.

"Nice try. I don't really care if you look refined or not. This hairpin is the same one that has been passed down to the next clan leader of my clan for generations. I stole it from my clan's treasury." Nana spoke with a nonchalant tone, she wasn't fazed that what she took was very valuable to her clan.

"Won't this bring more trouble to me?" Alex stopped her hand before she placed the hairpin in his hair.

"What? You don't dare to walk around with this on your hair? Are you scared? If you are then I won't force you to take it."

['This woman is really planning to bring troubles to us.'] Al uttered. ['She placed a mark on us without telling us about it first and now she wants to put a target on our head.'] He complained.

['Are you guys against this?'] Alex asked his alternate personalities.

['Yes and No.'] Xander answered first.

['Yes because of the dangers that come with, no because it will be good to know how strong those from the celestial realms are.']

['So… are you against it or not?'] Xander's reply confused Alex.

['Just do whatever you want. I am with you either way.'] Xander replied.

['What about you Lex? What do you think?'] Alex questioned.

['Whatever decision you make, I'm with you too.'] Lex responded.

['I am against this because we might die, but… I can't say no to this woman, who knows what she would if we say no to her.'] Al commented.

"Put it." Alex stated.

Nana smiled after she heard him say that.

She placed it in his hair and turned him around. "Now no girl would be able to resist you." Nana complimented.

"I have always been irresistible." Alex whispered under his breath.

"Indeed…"

"Brace yourself, we are almost there. Exiting the excepto is worse than entering." Nana warned…