Mark

[Trinity's POV]

"I guess it is."

My eyes narrowed, and I cast a spell. I was too careless, but I didn't expect that he would just touch my disgusting pimples and warts. He left me with no choice but to cast a hallucination spell on him.

I was expecting Michael's eyes to turn dull, but instead, he let go of his rabbits and grabbed both my hands. His face was just inches from mine with a wicked smile on his lips. I shuddered at the glint in his eyes that were now looking at me like I was prey.

"Are you . . . a witch?"

". . . H-how?" I was more surprised that my spell didn't work against him than him realizing my true nature.

Wide eyes, I stared at his lips, stretching into a concerning grin before he let go of me. He covered his eyes with his hand and tipped his head over the sky as he laughed.

I wanted to know if we attracted attention with his maniacal laughter, but I was too shocked that I couldn't avert my gaze when his personality changed from calm to hysterical within seconds.

"This is great," he said after a while, voice fading into a whisper, "I always wanted to find a witch, but who knew that I would actually find one in this run-down village?"

. . . What? My mind was in chaos, but first things first.

"How are you immune to my spell?" I asked, no longer taking this as a joke. No one is immune to my spell except three beings.

And then something clicked in my head, and I gasped. "Are you–!"

Michael placed a finger against my lips. The warmth of his skin didn't do anything against the coldness I felt at the moment.

Michael grabbed his rabbits, walked towards his door, and picked up the basket of cookies. "Let's talk inside."

I didn't budge. There were so many questions in my mind that I didn't know where to begin.

"Or you'd rather expose your secrets out here in the open?"

Looking at the guards, they were eying our direction while some villagers were already up and about. Swallowing my frustrations, I stomped inside his house.

The moment the door closed, I immediately asked, "Who are you?"

Michael took his time. He placed the rabbits and basket of cookies on the table before he faced me with a cookie in his hand.

"What's the rush? Let's get to know each other first." Michael leaned against the table and smiled. "Pimple face . . . or should I call you, Trinity?"

I crossed my arms and tilted my hips. "Are you pretending this whole time that you didn't know I was a witch?"

"No. Honestly, I didn't know until you showed up in my front door, that is." Michael grinned and took a bite of the cookie before his eyes bulged. "Wait. Is this poison?"

I shook my head, and he breathed easy.

"It's Love Philtre."

*cough!

Michael spat the cookie on the floor and tossed back the others into the basket. "A good thing that I'm immune to witches' hexes and spells."

"And there are only three beings in this plane that are immune to witches' spells," I said, "The holder of the marks. And based on your appearance, you're neither a vampire nor a werewolf, so you must be . . . Seraphim's descendant."

". . ." Michael flashed a sheepish grin. "How are you so sure? Never mind the vampire, but I could be a werewolf, you know."

I wanted to roll my eyes. "Not minding your blue eyes, with your age, you'd already been dead without a pact."

"Oh . . . right. I forgot about that." Michael shrugged.

"Enough games." I crossed the distance between us. "How come you possessed the mark of Seraphim?"

Michael's brow rose. "How do you know I have the mark?"

"Because no one is ever immune to our spells except the holder of the mark. If you have the mark, quick, show me."

Michael looked at me for a moment before he said, "Why would I show you? A witch? In fact, you should be begging me right now not to expose you."

I was getting impatient, and it was showing in my voice. "Because the fate of GrimHeart rests in our hands!"

If Michael was the true holder of Seraphim's mark then . . . one of the characters that I had to drag to the tree of life was just right under my nose!

Michael was stunned before he burst out laughing. "Fate? Since when did a witch care about saving the world? Rather, just a moment ago, you were about to put a spell on me. Was me falling in love with someone part of saving the world?"

I groaned and gritted my teeth. It was like I was dealing with a child! "I do acknowledge that my past action was indeed inappropriate. It was only because I didn't know that you're a holder of the mark. I have been searching for you."

Michael wiped his tears of laughter and humored me with his coy voice. "Please do tell. Why are you searching for me?"

"Shadowfell."

". . ." Michael clumped his lips tight and stared at me in disbelief.

"I'm sure you heard of them. If we don't find the tree of life and reinforce the barriers, it will break, and thousands of those fiends will enter this plane and create havoc."

Michael is a descendant of the Seraphim bloodline. There was no way he didn't know about it or even read about it from books and tales.

"Wait a minute . . . the only one who knows about those creatures . . ." His eyes bulged. "You're a descendant of Raphaela!"

If it would fasten the process of his understanding of the situation, then I nodded my head in confirmation.

Michael was stunned, staring at me for almost a minute, and I wanted to poke his eyes out.

"This must be fate!" Michael huffed a laugh, and that concerning glint in his eyes flashed for a fraction of a second.

"Alright . . . ," he said after he was done with his laughter, "but first . . . show me your mark."

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A/N

We are currently no.25 in power ranking in the contest. Just a few more PS and we'll reach no.20!

If we reach no.20, I'll do mass release of 3 chapies ^^

If we reach no.10, I'll release 10 chapters ^^

Thank you for all your support! ^^