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When they find out about his past, many ask how and why he came to work at The Mansion.
The reason? - A coma-induced dream(?) and an ill-advised gamble.
Why do you think Marcus is so often jested to be a pilgrim of sorts by those in the know?
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A failed assassination plot. A coma. A dream.
Or is it really a dream?
It's not a vision either, the lady's powers have no control over that.
A projection.
But that is wrong too.
No, it's best described as a conversation between the astral forms (souls?) of two individuals in a shared mental space of the lady's making.
Either way, it comes down to a pledge of loyalty and devotion from the red-haired youth to his liege.
Or prehaps God?
... Whatever.
Distinctions aside, it can be said that when the youth wakes up, he leaves.
He throws away his empire, his life, his old name, his family and friendly ties.
In a day, he settles his banks and house and gives his right hand men his job.
The settling is messy and leaves many loose ends, but his work here is done; his life here no more.
At dawn the next day, he is gone.
He bears only the clothes on his back, a cloak to protect himself from the weather and a small bundle of food.
He brings no money, and nothing to communicate with those he left behind.
He is a man on a mission and as far as he is concerned, that old life no longer exists.
The man of yesterday is dead and gone.
Only Marcus, servant of the blue-haired lady survives.
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Now, you must understand; this is not a world of magic and myths, but one of science and technology.
In this world, pilgrims are few and far between, with set goals and aims.
In this world, most believe in the logic and infallibility of science, not magic and dreams.
This is a world of cars and roads, with satellites that connect the people of the world together.
Yet. Yet Marcus, with neither money nor a phone travels on, hitching rides where he can, and walking where he can't.
Sometimes he stops to busk, telling stories of his life, of places he has been to.
Sometimes he sings, or plays another's instrument. Sometimes he begs or steals.
No matter what, he does not stop for long, waiting only long enough until he can pay for bus fare or a ferry ticket.
He crosses state lines and borders illegally. (Not like that has ever stopped him before.)
Sometimes he winds up in jail.
No matter; a small setback.
He leaves quickly and continues on.
He travels on and on and on.
Searching.
He asks for a mansion and a blue-haired girl.
He gets many false trails and dead ends.
Still he continues on, clinging to his one hint.
"East, where sun rises and the horizons touch," that's where she is; that's where he will go.
The sun rises, the sun sets.
East he continues, ever East.
The stars dance and whirl overhead, watching. The moon blinks over and over again.
It has been so long, yet barely anytime has passed.
He knows that he would continue no matter how long it takes.
East.
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Finally! A hint.
Past an abandoned village where he finds a child, onto the next, where the woman he leaves the child with tells him of an island with a mansion and a blue-haired lady that sleeps.
He walks on. His journey is almost done.
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He finds the mansion, though it is not on an island.
Strange, but no matter.
His journey is finished.
He stays in the village on the grounds for the night. There, the innkeeper tells him the story of how the lady of the mansion lost her parents and became comatose.
He listens.
The next day, he knocks on the door of the mansion.
The footman greets him.
He tells his story to the butler, who in turn offers him a job.
The pay is little, but he has been without less.
In truth his payment is the service itself.
He serves his lady, his god.
To spend the rest of his days cleaning the toilets in her house is more than enough for him.
Afterall, He is the servant, her most devoted believer, who in his devotion, has journeyed.
He is the Pilgrim that has finally arrived at the house of his god.
He is Marcus and this is his faith.