The Messenger of Death

As the prisoners drew closer to the shores of the island, their hearts continued to swell, so much so that some of them started to shed tears of joy.

Some of them that couldn't wait for the ships to reach the shores, jumped off their ships and swam to the shore. The feeling of stepping foot on another land, with soil that differs from the one in the forest where they were imprisoned for years, was blissful.

There were a few people that laid on the beach sand and made sand angels with their arms and legs. Some even prostrated and kissed the sand as they cried.

The joy that they were feeling, if they claimed that they were the happiest people on the Lower plain realm, it wouldn't be much of an exaggeration. Kymani wanted to join them and do the same, but she had to keep Xander in mind.

She didn't want to get off and head over to the island because it was stated in the contract that she has to act as his bodyguard until they reached the island. 'Just a few meters away Kymani, don't lose yourself. You've been imprisoned for over 70 years in that freaking forest, waiting a few more minutes for your freedom wouldn't kill you.' She thought to herself and unconsciously clenched her fist hard.

So hard that her nails pierced her palm and blood started to drip off her hand. Xander smelt fresh blood and found out where it was coming from.

['She must be very eager to get off this ship and step foot on top the sands of that island.'] Alex commented.

['The concept of freedom is what makes humans, humans.'] Lex said gently.

"Kymani," Xander called out to her but she didn't respond.

She was so focused on the island and restraining herself from jumping off the ship that she didn't hear when Xander called out to her.

"Kymani," Xander called out again, a bit louder this time.

"Yes," Kymani answered. She had almost choked herself to death. Kymani didn't know when she stopped breathing.

"If you are that eager to leave the ship, you are free to. Just leave a ship or two for me when you are going." Xander said.

"Really? Can I do that?" She asked to reconfirm.

Scar had been listening to Xander speak, and when he heard what he had to say he quickly jumped off the ship and while saying; "You can have this ship." All of Scar's men joined him and jumped off the ships that they were on, following behind their leader.

Xander only took a glance at Scar and turned his attention back to the Kymani.

"Yeah… and also, do you people already know where the opening to the Ordain plain realm is?" Xander asked.

"Yes, Ruberg and the rest that made it here first relayed the location to us."

"Oh, then you can be on your way."

Kymani hesitated a bit, looking at Xander with a questioning expression. She arched a brow at him.

"What is it? Do have anything that you want to say to me?"

"I'm just wondering if you are really not going to come to the Ordain plain realm with us." She confessed.

"Lying is not a habit of mine, nor do I condone it. I am not going to the Ordain plain realm, at least not in the near future."

'Then what exactly are you going to do on that island alone!? Just forget about Kymani, don't let your greed get the best of you again…' Kymani warned herself.

"This is the Ordain plain realm we are talking about. Whatever you are looking for on that island, it can't compare to the opportunities there." Kymani tried to convince Xander. Even if she had turned to his slave and could only be freed when he chooses to grant her that freedom, she wanted to make the best of it and have Xander with her so that she could score some energy crystals from him.

'Ahh!! Haven't you learned your lesson you crazy bitch!? Just let the boy be.' Her rational side tugged at her.

"Although the Ordain plain realm is full of opportunities, it is also full of dangers. I am not in a rush to go to a place that I have already been to."

"Huh!?" Kymani exclaimed, unable to believe what Xander just said.

"Alright then, it was nice knowing you, Alexander. For the short time that we spent in each other's company, I have come to learn that some kids with handsome features are terrifying as they are good looking," Kymani half-joked and was half-serious.

Xander chuckled at her comment, to him it was a compliment.

['That's rare, Xander… did you just laugh?'] Alex asked with a surprised tone.

['No, I chuckled.']

Xander's facial feature wasted no time in returning to the default cold face that he always has on.

'Did this boy just laugh?' Kymani asked herself as a smile found its way to her face. She felt as if she had accomplished something impossible. "Hahaha, I almost doubted my ears." She said out loud.

Xander retrieved the incomplete green HD-EC that he used for an attack and threw it at Kymani. "For achieving a great feat." He uttered in his usual tone.

Kymani's eyes almost popped out of her head in shock as she caught the incomplete green HD-EC in her hands like it was fragile. 'What the fuck!? I earned this just for making him laugh? It wasn't even a full laugh, he chuckled just for a second. Fuck!! If I had known that this was all it took to get energy crystals from this boy I would have dedicated my whole energy during the journey here to try and make him laugh.

"You can leave now," Xander dismissed her.

Kymani didn't know what to say, she turned and saw that most of her girls had already jumped off the ships that they were on and were swimming towards the island already. "You can have all the ships." She said before jumping off and making her way towards the shore.

['Why did you tell all of them to leave?'] Lex wanted to know.

['Because I don't want to be followed by anyone when I start searching for the petal. And I also want to know the direction of the opening to the Ordain plain realm.'] Xander divulged his reasons.

It was at this point that Alex, Xander, and Lex noticed that Al was awfully quiet about what transpired. He didn't try to stop Xander or complain about what he did. Alex wanted to ask what was wrong but decided against it when he didn't hear the rest talk about it.

Half an hour had passed since the prisoners swam to their freedom, when all of them reached the shore of the island, they all left together, heading towards the southern part of the forest. None of them even turned to look at Xander who was still sailing towards the island with the ships. Finally, the ships arrived at the shore and pushed through the beach sand a bit before stopping.

Xander jumped down and turned to face the 6 ships that were left for him.

['We don't need this many ships right? One or two would be okay.'] Alex mentioned.

"Yeah, two will suffice." Xander concurred. He picked two ships with the best condition and stored them in his storage ring, as it had enough space to contain them, rather than leaving them out in the open here. Even if he was sure that there were hardly any people living on this island, he couldn't completely ignore the possibility of people living here.

['What do we do with the rest?'] Lex asked.

"We destroy them," Xander replied.

['Alex, we can switch back now. There are no prisoners around us.'] Xander pointed out.

['Oh that's right…'] Alex chuckled.

-Switch.

"I think I was getting very comfortable in my head," He chuckled out loud this time.

However, as he did this, Alex felt as if his facial muscles were stuck in a particular place, forcing his expression to be cold. "God damn Xander! My face feels like a quack surgeon operated on it with glue and pins." Alex complained and used his hands to slap the sides of his face, trying to get the muscles to wake.

He opened his mouth wide, and moved his jaw from side to side, stretching his facial muscles.

Lex laughed gently at Alex's complaint and said; ['He did laugh at least – I mean chuckle.']

"Yeah, he did," Alex mentioned underneath his breath. He couldn't tell why, but he felt very happy switching with his alternate personality now. Maybe it was because they had gotten closer and he was starting to understand them better, or because he has started to enjoy living in his mind.

Either way, this is a huge mental breakthrough for Alex. Unbeknownst to him, he has started to mature and is slowly shedding his childish nature, however, he wasn't there just yet.

Alex looked at the remaining ships and shook his head. "Sailing's not for me," He uttered before sending a fireball at the four ships, burning them to ashes in a few seconds. The waves from the sea took these ashes away from the shore, removing the evidence of their presence here.