Lord Joyde The Madman: Heylo, everybody! How are you all doing?

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Hello everyone!

Business as usual, I've been incredibly busy these past few weeks but it seems that my trial period is final over.

Aka, I have entered the slow-pay-rise stage, which has done wonders for my overall morale.

Anyways, here comes the next 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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The Following Evening - Castle Pendragon (Alice's Room) - Alice's Point Of View...

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"Fuuhhh..." I released a rather intense breath into the air of my room.

I felt tired.

Exhausted even.

Yet... not in the physical sense. In fact, my body felt as if I had just woken up, full of pent-up energy ready to be unleashed upon the world.

My brain, on the other hand...

My poor, poor human mind.

Mayhaps, I should have mentioned this but consuming the energies of the living will only serve to alleviate your physical self.

It does nothing for mental fatigue. No, it should even be said that the excess energy coursing through your body tires the mind out even quicker than normal.

So basically, consuming life-force is only good during battle, not elsewhere. Consumption rejuvenates the body but sunders the mind.

Good.

A limitation as drastic as that might be exactly what I need to focus myself right now.

... excuse me, but how could a "limitation", possibly be helpful to us, madame?

There is such a thing as too much good, Tius. A limitless supply of gold will only blind its owner and make them complacent. The same goes for any kind of comfort.

Comfort makes you weak. Plenty causes one to become unwound. Unready.

Defenseless.

... and spoiled.

My data suggests that a child of your age should not comprehend such concepts and should just "go play" instead.

Does your ... data, whatever that is, include the factor of me being a child connected to Chaos?

... No.

Is your previous delight at finding a limitation directed towards Chaos and the very powers that it grants you?

... it is.. but why do you ask?

Then perhaps it would delight you further if you were made aware of the fact that you are actually incredibly weak, milady.

For a child of Chaos, I mean.

Ah, is that so?

Well, I guess it makes sense.

Are you saying that in comparison to Antioch or someone else?

The world from which I come from has a multitude of Chaosborne beings within it, as does your own if my calculations are correct.

In comparison to every Chaosborne I know of... you would be the weakest.

A-ah.

Theres a sharp pain my in heart right now. Ah, so sudden.

Anyways, you said how there are other Chaosborne within this world? How do you know for sure? I mean.. I don't think we've met anyone yet, right?

Through your conversations with other life-forms, I have deduced that two other figures may possess a connection to Chaos.

The orcish demigod is a direct descendant of the Cosmic Beast, aka Chaos.

The Elven Empress Ashillithine is a potential child as well, as she is said to have blood ties to the Cosmic Beast as well.

"Uwaah.." Such incredible people are my siblings?

Well, half siblings, anyways.

Anyways, lets stop standing in front of my own door, the massive wooden door standing imposingly behind my back, its inlaid iron hinges appearing more akin to ancient armor rather than just household normalcy. The walls sourrounding me were made out of strange, almost orange-ish stone. I do not know from where exactly these were imported, but they seem to be some form of hand-made sandstone.

Hn, must've cost a bunch to get these here. Wonder how my ancestors managed to get that much gold? The nearest desert to here is an entire continent away, after all. And I sincerely doubt that a random caravan held this much raw stone within it.

Looking around my room made me realize that absolutely nobody has been here ever since I left for Sorcierre a whole week ago. My ebon-plated desk was still littered with a myriad of letters, either delivered or withered, old and new, both failures and those unsent. Its sister chair was laid on the ground, thrown sideways as I had hurried out of my room and didn't care enough to put it back into place.

I did so now and then sorted the mess on my desk to find that the ink I used back then had dried up. With a sigh, I threw the inkwell through my window.

Or, I wanted to, but my window was closed, causing the inkwell to crash and shatter across my floor. The floor itself was also made out of hand-cut stone, tiles which appeared to be utterly black, a stark contrast to the orange of the walls. These stones I know very well, for they felt like home. They were the very stones which made up the mountains of granite and slate into which my castle was built.

Horror's Hail Mountains.

One has to wonder why they were given such a cruel name.

Is it because of the constant orcish raiding parties which descend from the mountains much like cold, winter hail?

Or is it because they house the very tear in reality from which the Cosmic Beast itself once roared into our tiny, fragile little world?

... or maybe its simply because they are the home of the Pendragon family. A family of human warmongers, monsters on the battlefield who fight with the brutality of dragons, the rage of rampaging beastkin, who heal quicker than orcs and ogres.

... a family cursed to bear the weight of Chaos upon their shoulders.

Well, the cursed part is probably more of a point of view than anything else.

That said, my dynasty sure does have a lot of blood dreched deep into its name. Even if I worked hard for my entire life, I would not manage to wash away even an inch of that blood.

Not that I ever will try.

Every kill, every murder I commit and do will be empowered a thousandfold.

Every good deed, every work of art that I create and make will only raise an eyebrow here and there.

Heroes are remembered for generations.

... yet villains are turned to legends.

For such is the way of the world. No need to remember that which works, the deeds of the good, but teach the children the horrors of the past so that they may not repeat the mistakes of the tyrants who came before them.

Its like people want to be ruled by monsters.

Hm. If heroes are remembered and villains become legends, what happens to monsters?

Do they get deleted from the face of history itself?

Or... perhaps...

They become something more?

A deep, dark fear within the very blood of those afflicted by them.

Be good and serve the Pendragon family well, or else a child like Alice will be born!- or something like that.

Mhm, I like it. Lets make that saying a reality, eh?

Anyways, where was I?

Oh yeah, the inkwell.

Picking up the pieces from the slate-stone floor, I open the gold-inlaid window and nearly wince as I notice its cut-jade handles. A part of me wants to rip them off right this instant, only to sell them off for a nice price sometime later. I could certainly use the gold.

Ahh... before all of this, my room was just that, a room. All I could see are the pretty, shiny things that Nobility like me deserves and usually has around... now, all I see is the coin required to possess such incredible comforts. It makes me sick on the inside.

Not that I feel this way, but the amount of coin a room like mine would require in order to be made.

And now I feel like shit for ever even doubting my father. He spent so much money on me and I never even realized it.

Come to think of it, father made the most of his money through warfare, raiding and pillaging, as well as taking back what bandits usually already stole.

Then...

My entire room.

Has been forged out of blood and gold, taken from distant lands and colored with echoing cries and thundering screams.

I felt my blood rushing through my body, my heart pumping in delight at such thoughts. My hands trembled and I unconsciously let loose the inkwell pieces, shattering them into even tinier parts and bits.

With a short laugh, I finally threw the pieces out of my room, snorting as they broke even further on the mountain stones. Then I turned around, a chill wind blowing through the window and into my back. The cold breeze felt nice on my pale, pearly skin and caused my reaped dress to rip even more.

I promptly locked the door to my room and threw these blood-stained clothes off of myself. The blood and carnage of the battlefield had long since dried upon the silken dress I wore into the fight. It held a myriad of tatters and tears, telling a story that a little girls dress should never have to tell. The dried blood held a strange scent to it, a piece of me realized that I should have been disgusted by it, and yet the scent held me mesmerized more than the roseate candles back in Sorcierre did.

I placed the dress onto one of the windows jade handles, impaling its top onto the costly thing which caused the scent to fill the entire room as the wind flowed in. I took a piece of parchment and wrote: DO NOT CLEAN, onto it as I placed the letter next to the dress.

Stretching myself, I leaped onto my bed and grasped the crimson velvet sheets, my head falling deep into a cushy, woolen pillow. The crimson reminided me of the blood and I smiled again, wondering what kind of town or village my father razed to the ground in order to get his hands on such fine, rich fabrics?

How many of them? For the very same silks made up the top, the roof of my bed as well. The wood from which its collumns were made was ebonwood, much like my work table over there.. a wood which can be acquired through trade.. or by deforesting the ancient, prized elven ebonwood forests which are a continent away as well.

This book's true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.

The woolen pillow, though its material isn't rare, was clearly a masterwork in its own right, having my dynastic banner woven into it with incredible detail. What master tailor did father enslave and break, force into making this?

What wonderous terror did he cause all over the world in order to create this room of mine?

An innocent little girl, sleeping amidst a sea of sin and horror.

Well, not so innocent anymore...

Suddenly, another scent entered my nostrils, but this one wasn't nearly as nice as the last one. The stench of dried sweat and splashed dirtwater, finally released from being cooked from the inside of my clothing, now freed with the removal of my dress. I quickly removed the remainder of my clothes, my pink-white underwear was stained, now a pitch black or cobalt blue from all the terrible things which seeped into them recently.

Haa, I'm gonna need to take a bath.

Do you wish to be cleaned, mistress?

 Eh? What do you mean, Tius? Do you have some kind of power to instantly clean me?

Not instantly...

But it should not take longer than twenty seconds, so please close your eyes for the duration.

 I did as I was told and suddenly, a very strange crawling sensation formed all over my body.

It felt like a thousand tiny spiders walked all over me with their hairy legs.. Ugh, this does not feel good at all.

I am sorry.

I did not expect this to be so unpleasant for you.. perhaps next time you should take an actual bath instead?

 Opening my eyes revealed a rather... smelly looking black orb on the ground next to me.

The filth on your body has been collected and condensed into a singular ball. Please, throw it out as soon as possible.

 Looks like a piece of shit.

... smells like it too.

And this was all on me just a moment ago?

You know what Tius, if I ever get this dirty again, please feel free to inform me and I will find a quiet place for you to clean me straight away. Good Gods, the people around me must have been disgusted.

I threw the thing out of the window after using a piece of cloth to cover it.

As you wish, madame.

Anyways, I should get dressed. No point in walking around naked.

As I approached my bed again, I took note of my nightstand which appeared to be a regular piece of furniture in contrast to just about everything else around here. It was just a regular wooden night stand, accompanied by an equally regular end table.

My dresser, on the other hand, was made out of sturdy, dwarven wood which was held together by nails and hinges of pure, shining silver. Or, maybe it was just regular steel, polished to a mirror shine, but that was rather unlikely, right?

Opening the dresser revealed a mass of dresses and ladylike underwear, much of which was bought for me by mother. Though she was a shit mom, she did seem to like having me dressed up in rich clothing. I guess having your daughter dress poorly would reflect bad on you as her mother?

Either way, I stared at the clothes with disdain. None of this would suit my purposes right now. While a secondary blood-dreched scent dress would be nice to have around, having too many of them will cause people to ask needless questions.

And I'll already have to deal with plenty of those.

Milady, perhaps I could be of use to you here?

Recently, I have begun developing ways to absorb inorganic materials... things like iron and cloth for example, in order to lessen the strain that I put onto your mind and body.

While my efforts have yet to yield any concrete results, perhaps you would allow me to make use these "useless dresses"? I am perfectly capable of tailoring so I may be able to refashion the material into something more adherent to your needs.

 I don't think I'll ever wear these again and by the time I'm forced to go to some special occassion, I'll probably have enough money to buy a new dress anyways.

So, yes. Give it your best, Tius.

Right away, your highness.

Several black tendrils erupted from my right hand and immediatelly went to town on the dresses, ripping and tearing the fabribs before somehow re-weaving them together again. One by one my dresses went away, forced into the mass of rupturing cloth, all of it being sewn into an entirely new article of clothing.

Within a literal minute, the tendrils retreated back into my flesh, leaving a strange outfit on the ground before me. "Black silk underwear, really?" I questioned Tius' work out loud.

Apologies if the clothes I made appear too erotic for your taste, milady.

My intention was to find the most suitable and soft material for your nether regions.

 ... oh, fine. Not like I'm gonna show them off to anyone, am I?

Next to the underwear were equally black pants, seemingly made out of leather.

Do not be fooled by their appearance, mistress.

The leggings are made solely out of fabric. They merely appear otherwise as I have given the clothing to a honeycomb structure, much like that of human skin.

 Either way, the black pants felt great, cool and airy.

What followed afterwards was a long-sleeved royalesque shirt, accompanied by a set of purplish gloves. The shirt was clearly made out of velvet, much like my bed sheets, yet the gloves held the same leather-like appearance as the pants.

There was a pair of socks made as well, yet they seemed rather simple in comparison to the rest of the outfit, feeling like simple woolen socks. Perhaps, this is for the best.

However, the last article of clothing seemed to be something straight out of a fairy tale. A large, for me at least, crimson overcoat akin to what a city mayor may wear during the colder seasons.

Come to think of it... winter is on the horizon here in Axilar. And our winters are long and harsh so maybe this isn't as strange as I originally thought it was.

But still, a thicker dress may have done the trick for a normal young lady. Then again, do I really want to appear normal at this point? Social interactions are much easier to deal with if everyone around me just automatically assumes that I'm crazy.

Shrugging to myself, I put on the clothes only to realize that there was a missing component. I was barefoot.

Also, the coat was kind of heavy so I put it off and into the dresser."Uhh, you wouldn't have some kind of ability to make shoes, do you Tius?"

... it should not be too difficult.

The process is the same as it was with the dresses, though the material will be more difficult to work with.

Letting out a sigh, I open up a lower portion of my dresser to find a multitude of shoes, specialized and set appart in accordance for what they were used for.

That is to say; dancing shoes, everyday shoes, dinner shoes, meeting shoes, school shoes and so forth.

Tius, devour everything you see.

... okay?

For some reason, I feel an immense headache just by looking at all these shoes.

So watching Tius' tendrils slowly destroy them is rather relieving.

Mere seconds later, the shoes before me were all gone and in their place was a pair of black leather combat boots. As in its-really-leather, this time. They appeared simple enough, though I do not know of any worksman capable of making something like this in this day and age.

Mayhaps I could say that my outfit was made by an elf?

Or that its something I found in mothers basement?

Putting the boots on gave me a few extra centimeters of height and it took a bit of time to actually get used to it. My normal height is somewhere around one meter and forty centimeters but now I was around three to five centimeters higher. It felt weird.

And made me feel proud of myself for some reason.

Anyways, with the outfit on apart from the overcoat, I walked towards my mirror."Ehh.." I let out a rather uncharacteristic sound.

I certainly looked like a noble.

... A male noble, that is.

Rich, silken black lower clothing and a striking crimson top.

My purplish gloves were the only thing feminine about me. Then again, one of my arms was made out of metal, so its not like I could appear any less girlish if I tried.

Yet parhaps the more shocking revelation was the fact that a couple strands of my snow-white hair had turned a bright red color. Like freshly spilled blood. They appeared in seemingly random places and werent concentrated in the least which thankfully made them somewhat less noticable... maybe if I tied my hair into a ponytail, I could hide them?

I did as such and scowled at what I saw as any semblance of femininity completely dispersed from my visage. In fact, if I were to compare myself to anything, it would be a rather young, male dark elf.

Except my skin is completely white so the comparison is kinda trash but you get the point.

I looked like something that was trying to cosplay being female rather than an actual girl.

Oh whatever, my appearance may be useful to me. After all, if I look like this, what kind of man would try to court me?... and the thought of being intimate with another girl excites me more than I'd like to admit.

Come to think of it, all the men I found nice to look at werent the typical smelly, hairy and muscular kind that all the other girls my age often oogled at. Rather... my fixiation was more onto male elves. The very same elves I claimed to be cosplaying as just a few seconds ago.

... elves like the headmasters halfbreed son.

A-ah, I think I understand those fangirls feelings a little bit more now.

Shaking off the blood rushing to my cheeks, I found myself staring intently into the mirror once more.

... something suddenly feels very, very wrong.

My visage within the mirror suddenly smiled towards me and I quickly checked with my right hand, placing it on my mouth to find how I wasn't smiling at all. Further more, the hand I raised in reality... was not raised in the mirror.

The me-in-the-mirror then appeared to leap forward, pale-white teeth shining like that of a hungry lion and I punched the mirror-in-the-wall by reflex. Thankfully, it was with my metal arm. The cracking glass let out a hollow scream and maddening laughter, both echoing throughout the castle as my reflection was consumed in flames.

An inferno blazed within the glass.

Within moments, bloody hand-prints appeared all over the glass, as if something was walking downwards on its hands alone, they went down and down and down and...

Blink.

The mirror was unbroken.

The fire was gone.

The bloody hand-prints werent there.

The scented candles on the sides of the wall-mirror still burned lively.

A cold sweat fell down my brow, yet I exhaled as I seemed to have returned to reality."W-what the hell was that? Chaos?!"

Milady, it would appear that you are developing Schizophrenia.

 ... what ... does that mean?

.... perhaps it is best that you do not know.

In any case, please refrain from doing anything stressfull for a time. Your young mind can only take so much.

 ... A disease born out of stress? Do such things exist? Are we sure that wasn't some kind of magical atta-....

Don't stress, Alice.

Don't think about it.

Ignorance is your friend, Alice.

Tius, I need to do something to calm myself. Ideas?

... Hmm, according to my analysis, your current state of mind is caused mainly due to your uncertainty and insecurity.

Perhaps, planning ahead may soothe your troubled mind?

 "More work, eh?" Muttering mostly to myself, I walked over to a second table within my room. This one served a different purpose than the last, as it was used mostly for eating. As in, this would be the table that I eat my breakfast and dinner on. Close to it were two mahogany chairs, set sideways yet not on the floor as the other one's was.

This was the place where father explained his undeath to me. The chairs were still as we left them.

Everything in this room... appears to be almost immune to the passage of time. From the stone floors to the furniture and the clothing... How, strange.

Anyways, I shouldn't think too hard on it.

Opening a drawer on my work desk, I took out a spare, unopened inkwell and an empty book which I use when I need to write letters. As in I rip out the pages and write on them untill I make something socially acceptable.

Hm..

What to do... what do I need to do this week?

Today is monday.

Did I have something arranged for tomorrow?

Oh yeah, I did. I am supposed to come visit Master Merriels family at dinnertime. Geez, I hope I haven't insulted his wife too much by being neglectful...

Anyways, thats one note. Anything else for that day?

Hmn... in the morning, I have classes. Tuesday would mean World History. Ugh, screw that. I'm not going and I'll probably switch that subject for something else. Which all leaves me with an empty morning.

So what to fill the morning up with?

My poor fiance comes to mind. I did say that I would buy him a painter set, right? So doing that or at least finding out more about such artistic sets may be a good idea.

Honestly, I should also look around for more information on the Kulum Pox. I mean, much of Ulfo's self-hatred originates from that disease so maybe if I find a way to cure him, he would heal as a person?

That still won't save him from daily physical excercise. Gotta remember to set a butler or maid strong enough to force him into doing it all though.

... what next?

Maybe I should use the morning to stay home since I'm already skipping classes and go visit Kilnchapel before leaving for Sorcierre? I mean, since I have Fluffy now- no, wait, while flying on a giant bat monster is very appealing, the trouble it will cause is not.

So... no Fluffy-flights.

Sadface.

Anyways, that means I need a new carriage. Shouldn't be too hard to get one but if I want to be in Sorcierre by tomorrow night, I need to start preparations tonight... and possibly leave tonight, as well. Meh, not like I was planning to sleep anyways.

People will want me to take up an entourage, though. Its only natural as we've just been attacked, after all.

But who do I bring with me? I can't bring any of the commanders or the general. I need to fish out some elite soldiers but how do I do that quickly enough? Oh, I can just ask the general to get some good guards for me.

Here's to hope that we can muster enough supplies quickly for them, as the general will likely want to send me off with a minor warband.

A turn towards the outside revealed that the sun was just about to set, with a glorious golden light shining through my window from the horizon. Hm. Maybe I should go visit Kilnchapel today?

Right then. I'll get the servants to set up a carriage here and use Fluffy to fly towards Kilnchapel in order to deal with whatever situation's arisen there by now.

With a satisfied smirk, I closed the book I was writing notes in and took a small bag with me to place it in. I always had my demonic purse with me but now I'm gonna have another small bag on the other side of my waist. With slight hesitation, I turned towards the mirror once more and found myself nearly laughing at how I looked."Now, all I need is a saber and I'll look like a proper pirate. An extremely rich pirate, but a pirate nonetheless."

A chuckle escaped me as I extended my hand towards the celling."Father!" My cry echoed with magical power as the sword-form of my dad took shape from nothingness and I could feel his consciousness connecting to mine."Alice? You need me for something, darling?... also, what the hell is that outfit?"

His voice echoed within my mind and I let out a giggle."You don't like it?"

I could feel my father tilting his head in confusion."I honestly don't know what to even say about it. It looks good on you, Alice.. but at the same time I get the feeling that it really shouldn't, look good on you."

Ah."Anyways dad, can you change your sword-form?"

"Why? Do you want me to turn into a pirate saber or something?" Oh. Nail on the head. Father seemed to blink in disbelief."Fine. I will complete your already insane look so why the hell not."

With that said, the short silvery blade extended forward, forging itself into what was a blade as long as my body, had a guard in the shape of the white one's symbol and a T shaped handle of silver and gold. It shone brightly in the illuminated room, as it appeared to slice even the shadows.

I carefully dragged the tip of the blade accross the stone floor and swallowed hard as it easily cut through."Still as implausibly sharp as before, eh?"

Shrugging, I placed the blade back into its sheath and then tied said sheath next to my new bag. Cracking my bones, I unlocked the door to my room and walked out with renewed vigour.

Its was time to get to work!

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Don't mind me guys and girls! I'm just a line break...

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Thats it for this chapter!

As per usual, I'll stay online for a bit to clean up the chapter.

But after that, or during all that, I'll go get myself some food.

And since I probably wont be able to write again anytime soon, HAPPY EASTER EVERYBODY! Very Happy [https://forum.royalroadl.com/images/smilies/biggrin.png]

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Anyways, read and review! And Good Morning/Day/Night to you all! ADIOS FOR NOW!