Lord Joyde The Madman: Heylo, Everybody! How are you all?
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Okay so I'll admit, thejoker195's comment hit me in a place where I didn't even expect to have a weak spot.
Plus Derwipe, or one of his many dimensional clones, asked me about the status of my... failure known as RUIN.
In short; it was just another dumb RE: story and I kinda don't like those all that much.
Then I went back to my page and noticed how 90% of the stories which are well liked are the ones which follow a sort-off main-continuity.
So I figured, why not cook up another story, this time intimately connected to Euphoria itself? One which follows a female character, who will eventually end up being just as insane as Leonardo.
I wonder if people would complain if she rapes someone?
Probably not.
Anyways, here comes the very first chapter of Destiny: Infernal. I sincerely hope that you enjoy, let us begin!
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Don't mind me guys and girls! I'm just a line break...
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June 21st of the year 738AB (After Blackfall) - A Certain Carriage - Unknown's Point Of View...
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First day of summer.
Summer.
A season which many people love and adore.
Flowers bloom.
Love follows suit.
And children happily dart across the fields of green, brimming with daylight.
The season during which most crops fall within their growing season, causing the peasantry to rejoice.
The season during which mages, such as I, are sent back to their homes from the schools which they attend.
For summer is the time of the burning gaze of the sun, when pale-skinned men and women who spend most of their lives experimenting indoors, do not approve of leaving said indoors.
The same goes for me.
... Life. Life is supposed to thrive during summer, is it not?
So why, oh dear gods why, is it that I am currently going home, to stand still and weep for weeks on end...
To my fathers very own funeral.
...
Perhaps I'm going too quickly with this, so let us start from the beginning.
I am Alice F. Pendragon, a nine year old girl who had just graduated from her School for Basic Magic.
Or Alice P. Flarewreath, whichever you prefer. Either is fine by me, really.
I am the only daughter of Martha Flarewreath, an eccentric young woman who was an ally of the previous Summoned Hero who saved the world from the Demon King. She was, and still is, an immensely powerful sorceress, a master of the arcane. A woman born with such immense talent, that she managed to get herself married into nobility, a lowborn genius.
Such a shame that she didn't let me inherit all of that genius.
I am also the only daughter of Anthony Pendragon. He was a man of immense power, wealth and status, born into a middle-ranked noble family and rising to the level of a High Lord within The Kingdom Of Clausia. A knight of the gods, an army marshal and a High Almoner, a man with numerous achievements to his name.
A father whom I barely even knew.
Then again, the same can be said about my mother.
One who is constantly doing experiments, learning, improving her magic. But such is the life of a mage, she likes to say as an excuse.
Another who is constantly away, only coming back home for brief moments in time, most of which I am away. But such is the life of a warrior during wartime.
A war fought in order to attain land from another kingdom, an entrance to the vast oceans that this world has to offer, a portal into the world of merchants and trade.
A war fought for gold and prestige.
The very war which cost my father his life. I hope to the gods that it was worth the sacrifice.
At least he died doing what he loved, one of my fellow students of magic had said without emotion in his tone.
A silent insult to my father. One which I had to pretend not to notice.
...
However, life is never that easy.
You see, while I did not inherit my mother's genius... I did inherit some of her capacity.
An astute, shrewd mind combined with a rather cynical disposition towards people. This, combined with my unending Zeal for one particular Goddess, caused me to be just talented enough to be exiled from normal conversation.
... And just normal enough to be an outcast among outcasts.
In other words; an absolutely anti-social little girl who barely had any form of parenting.
But hey, I'm gonna be a High Lady now... so... worth?
What I mean to say is that since my mother is a lowborn, she cannot inherit fathers claims and titles, which means that they thus fall onto my head.
I'm surprisingly okay with this, considering the fact that mother has no desire to be a noblewoman in the first place, which will result in our county falling into a state of disrepair.
... As if all the thieves guilds and smuggler rings weren't enough. Sure, father usually destroyed those when he came back home, but you'd be surprised how quickly mongrels repair their criminal organizations.
Still, this also means that I'm gonna need to find myself a good steward to help me administer my realm.
... anyways, where was I?
Oh yeah, the death of my father and the funeral which I'm supposed to attend."Mistress, we have arrived."
A sorrowful, careful tone echoed from outside the carriage I was in, the voice of my personal maid, Eugenia.
A golden-haired young woman in her mid-twenties, a former slave dragged out of her home and to this kingdom from across the ocean.
A half-elf. The most hated of all sins. An existence wrought with despair and conflict.
I walked out of the carriage, my rich aqua dress waving around me. The wind blew forth as soon as I left, causing me to breathe in deeply, my eyes darting around the exotic flora surrounding the castle.
Beautiful plant-life, only to end up being used in whatever alchemical formulae mother cooks up in her spare time."How do you do it, Eugenia?"
She tilted her head in confusion at my question, prompting a forced chuckle to escape my lips."Whatever do you mean, mistress?"
"Live. How can you live through moments like these? I mean, your parents were killed right? How did you manage to fight through that pain?" I asked her, somewhat insensitively.
To her credit, she merely closed her eyes for a moment in thought."... I never did. I simply learned to live with it, mistress."
A blank stare was her reply."I see..."
"Where shall we go first, mistress? Should we go to the Pendragon family catacombs or do you wish to go see your mother first?" She asked me, fluidly changing the subject.
I let out a breath."I.. There's no point in going to the catacombs... I'm going to be spending the entire day tomorrow there and father's body has not been delivered yet anyway... Where is mother?"
Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.
"She appears to be in the right-wing tower of the castle, her summoning laboratory. The guards say how she hasn't left the place for three days, ever since your father fell." Is her eloquent reply, her eyes still closed.
Sometimes, I think that she's actually blind, just not willing to reveal that fact because she fears being fired from her position as my maid.
Which is not going to happen, but it makes me think as to how exactly she is capable of seeing while blind.
Must be some kind of elf magic. A subject to ask about later.
Preferably soon, for I do not know how much more of this gloom and doom I can take.
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Don't mind me guys and girls! I'm just a line break...
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Mere minutes afterwards... - The Summoning Laboratory - Martha's Point Of View...
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"Finally... after all these days of hard work! I finally have the answer to my problems!" I exclaimed out loudly as my shaking hands held the final mixture needed to complete my spell.
A special kind of ink usually referred to as Void Ink, used by the minions of the previous Demon King to contact beings from the Great Dark Beyond.
My hope is that my spell will allow me to contact a being whose wisdom will aid me in managing my realm.
Since my useless brute of a husband decided to die. He didn't even make me the claimant to his titles, instead giving them to that blasted twerp.
What use is a little girl when it comes to managing a realm?! I'm his wife, the lands should be mine, dammit all!
Calming myself and managing to subdue my fury, I drew the demonic circle using the aforementioned ink and started to chant.
"O lords of the Void..." My voice seemed to echo as soon as my mana began infusing itself into the circle.
I took in a deep breath."I call upon thee now, in my time of great need!"
The magic swirled upwards, opening portals to the beyond, causing my voice to echo into the infinite, hopefully to catch the attention of some thing out there."Bestow upon me thy ancient wisdom, so that I may retain power which is rightfully mine!"
I screamed out as unknown magics tore through my soul, as something incredible, something inconceivable to my fragile, mortal mind, took a singular look at me.
Without a single word from it, I understood what it was asking me."In e-exchange, thy shall have unlimited access to my world! Through me, thy glory and grace shall become known to all within it!"
And just as I was about to finish the spell, several knocking sounds came from my door, causing the beings attention to turn. My blasted daughter walked in, breaking the clarity of the ritual as her own magic was consumed by the vortex.
The last thing I saw was my own body being flung out the window before I hit the cold, hard ground and my world went dark.
What a sad way to die...
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Don't mind me guys and girls! I'm just a line break...
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Seconds Beforehand - The Entrance - Alice's Point Of View...
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I stood before the door to mother's favorite laboratory.
I could feel the immense power, the incredible magical energies twisting and turning within...
Mother was chanting some form of spell, but in my amazement at the powers at play here, I could not properly hear the words.
I knew that disrupting a ritual of this scale was potentially deathly.
I hesitated internally, but one of my hands was already on the doors handle while the other pressed onto its wooden exterior, ready to knock.
I realized, I had nothing to really live for.
My sorrow was suddenly broken as I felt something terrible take a singular look at me, exposing my mind, body and soul with a single all-consuming stare.
And before I knew it, my hand was knocking on the door, my feet going forward without a single thought from me.
Something was pulling me in there.
...
And I was not attempting to resist.
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Don't mind me guys and girls! I'm just a line break... (If you wish to know what happened prior to this, find chapter 60 of EUPHORIA... when it goes up, anyways)
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Unknown amount of time later... - The Red World - Alice's Point Of View...
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"U..uugh...my... my head..." I muttered out in pain, a terrible headache slamming itself onto my poor, poor brain.
My eyes slowly adjusted to the world around me."Ah, shes finally waking up."
A terrible voice echoed somewhere in front of me, causing my head to shoot upwards... or it would have, had it not stopped mid-way to focus on what was below me.
Red, crimson... a pool of blood.
Of... my blood."You think she has the ability to hear us yet?" Another voice spoke, with a tone of power and annoyance.
As if a king, addressing an animal."Sure she does, shes just in shock... as is, y'know, the normal thing to be in her position." The terrible voice was nearly silent now, though that did not appear to be its intention, a tone of reason and logic flowing with it.
The other one scoffed."As if there's something to be shocked about."
A deep sigh escaped the terrible one."Right, whatever possessed me to think that you'd be capable of comprehending common sense."
"We are in the belly of Chaos itself and you're talking about common sense? Eadom, I think you're the one being unreasonable here." The kingly voice replied as the newly-named Eadom simply let out another sigh.
The belly of Chaos?
What...
My brain finally manages to retain some form of capability as I start to feel my limbs again, instantly leaping out of the pool of blood and running my hands up and down my own body."Hah, there's no wounds, if that's what you're looking for, little one."
The person known as Eadom spoke with pity lacing his tone as I looked up to find two adult men standing in front of me... well one man and the other an angel.
An angel without skin, with torn wings which should not be capable of flight, wearing pants made of skin.
His own, I conclude without proof.
Surprisingly, no bile or shock comes from this.
In fact, my previous shocked state of self is utterly gone."Huh.. well someone recovered rather quickly." The kingly one spoke as I finally found my own voice."W-who are you? W-where am I-I?"
I spoke with a lisp, one which I do not remember having."Don't worry, child. This place tends to do things like that without asking for permission." Eadom answered my unsaid question as I turned my head upwards again.
The kingly one approached me, his form that of a young man around eighteen to twenty years old with long white hair tied into a ponytail, wearing boots, pants and a shirt made out of unknown material.
It did not look natural at all."Hi. My name is Leonardo, though you may call me Antioch, if you want to. What's your name?"
I stared blankly at the guy for a couple seconds, his bluntness and seeming immunity to the insanity around us becoming rather apparent.
I guess this place really is Chaos. After all, where else would a Flayed Angel be the voice of reason?
Shaking my head out of my stupor, I finally gave the man, now known as Antioch, a reply."Uhh, its Alice. Alice Pendragon."
For some unknown reason, I bit back the need to involve mothers surname. I wonder why."Well Alice, I hate to say it but it would seem that fate has decided to curse you."
Blinking at him, I tilted my head in confusion and asked."What do you mean?"
"You are, from now on, an Agent Of Chaos. And I, am your designated guardian. An adult agent, if you will." He spoke with a voice full of pride as the angel next to him scoffed."So full of it even if you only just gained that promotion."
An Agent of Chaos?... am I.. an evil person now?
Some kind of future Demon Queen?
...
My instincts tell me no."I... see... and what exactly does that means?"
"It means that fate has decided to make you into one of its pawns, like a hero or a demon king, but not bound to any particular side. Neither good nor evil, you will have to find your own side and destiny, to become whatever your own world needs you to become." Antioch replied with surprising clarity as Eadom nodded, eyes widening with approval.
"Hmm, couldn't have said that better myself." He spoke as Antioch continued."As your guardian, I'm supposed to help you find and complete your destiny. In order to do this, we can share parts of ourselves. Power, knowledge and even body strengths can be exchanged. However, nothing exchanged is lost."
Suddenly, the angel adopted a rather blank stare, looking directly at Antioch as if he copied his homework or something.
I get the feeling that might be true."Exchanged? So then I have to give you something, right?"
Antioch shrugged."I'm perfectly fine with it being a single-sided exchange, but if you want to give me something then I'm not going to say no."
"But what would a little girl like you have to give?" Eadom asked me with a quirked eyebrow, eliciting a grunt of annoyance to escape both me and Antioch.
We looked towards one another and laughed."Well, for instance, she could give me the soul of that woman over there, right?" Antioch spoke with interest as he pointed behind me, thus forcing me to turn my head around.
And there, impaled upon a bone spike in the shape of a feline claw, was mother's naked body, skinless and tortured."M...m... m-mother?"
I heard myself mutter out, but my voice echoed as if I screamed, causing all three of us to cover our ears, though that only seemed to increase the volume."Mother? So you killed your own mother?" Antioch asked with a surprised tone.
But to my utmost relief, the flayed angel shook his head in negative."No.. it does not work that way for the others. Only we have the capability to take the souls of anyone we kill Leonardo, but this is because Chaos itself ties those souls to us. Much the same way, Chaos tied Alice's mother's soul to her. Although, looking at her, I'd say it wasn't in order to keep a mother close to her child, but to punish her for something she did."
I looked back towards mother."Finally... after all these days of hard work! I finally have the answer to my problems!" Mother's voice echoed in my mind, thundering across my brain like an ocean wave crashing into a city.
But before I could comment on it, another whisper came along."What use is a little girl when it comes to managing a realm?! I'm his wife, the lands should be mine, dammit all!"
My eyes went wide with horror as I realize what she had done.
Or, at least, tried to do.
Mother...
She tried to kill me...
Without wasting another moment, I turned toward Antioch."If I give her to you, will she suffer?"
Antioch's face changed several times, from shock to eventual sadism, as he put a finger on his chin in thought before pointing to his right. And there, an island of flesh, blood, bone and skin floated in the red skies... And upon the island laid hundreds of spikes much akin to the one mother was impaled upon.
However, the bodies and souls of those impaled were ablaze in fire.
... In Hell's fire.
Made forever to burn in torment for their life's sins.
What a sad end.
Perfectly fitting for my... mother."Then take her. Make her suffer for trying to kill me!"
Antioch nodded and the deal was struck, a blinding light enveloped mothers body before dispersing, teleporting her to his island and setting her afire."So then, what would you like to have in turn?"
I stopped dead in my tracks."Well uh, I don't really know what to ask for so... maybe a favor would do for now?"
Antioch shrugged."That's fine by me."
A click resounded in our minds and we knew that the deal was accepted.
Suddenly, I felt myself becoming sleepy, drawn to the same pool of blood which I'd awoken from.
And I fell down, the crimson blood seeping into my hair and clothing, enveloping my entire self with its warm, crimson embrace.
I've never felt so peaceful in my entire life...
But I knew, right then and there...
That it was time for me...
To wake up.
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Don't mind me guys and girls! I'm just a line break...
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And that is it for the first chapter of Destiny: Infernal!
I sincerely hope that you enjoyed it as much as I did.
Not much else to say here. Other than the fact that this will not end up like RUIN since I actually have plans for this story.
It will evolve and progress alongside Euphoria, so I hope that it wont end up being too confusing for you guys..
Oh who am I kidding? I LOVE IT WHEN YOU PEOPLE ARE CONFUSED AF, MUAHAHAHAHHAAH
It tickles me just the right way. ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)
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Anyways, read and review! And Good Morning/Day/Night to you all! ADIOS FOR NOW!