Lord Joyde The Madman: Heylo, people! How're you all doing this fine... sunny as fuck day?
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Good God this day started so nicely...
A bit of rain, loads of cold wind.
Purified air, the kind that comes after lightning.
And now, its 30+ celsius and it feels like fucking hellfire whenever the sun is shining directly onto you.
Thankfully, the air in general is still relatively livable.
Anyways, here come the next chapter of EUPHORIA! 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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Around that same time... - The Zatara Mansion - Null Point Of View...
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The people of this world often gave him names.
Dramatic, gruesome names.
Or perhaps they should be called titles?
Butcher.
Killer.
Monster.
... boss.
The people of this world often gave him names.
Dramatic, useless names.
Or, at least, he thought they did.
Now, his perception of the world has been...
Heightened?
Grown?
Empowered?
He wasn't even sure anymore.
From the start, he was aware that his family was different. That in his blood rested a curse so powerful that it was impossible to deny it.
A curse which caused him, his ancestors and his descendants to hunger for murder. A curse which supposedly made him a monster.
The way his own father described it to him made him think that the curse stays with you forever since even after he himself was born, his father never stopped killing.
Yet, when his second son was brought into this world, he could feel that terrible darkness leaving him, infusing itself into the next in line.
The next one worthy to carry such a burden.
He always wondered why, out of all of his six siblings, he was the only one his father ever told the story to.
Now he knew why.
Yet, even as the curse flew out of him and into the boy...
Much like his father before him, he never stopped killing.
Slowly, he realized, that the curse was little more than... medicine.
Yes, medicine.
Just a drug a person has to take in order to help heal their ill body.
But medicine alone can never truly heal a person.
That person must also wish to be healed.
That persons body must act in its own defense.
If it does not, then all the medicine in the world cannot save you.
The man realized also, that this particular illness was not one he wished to be cured off.
Insanity.
Madness.
... Chaos...
It had so many names, each of which described it as perfectly as it didn't.
His son, the next in line, often tried his best to describe the illness. He even called it a gift.
A part of him.
A part of the boy.
Or the father?
The man wasn't that sure anymore.
What he was sure of, was that with this recent growth of perception came a myriad...
Of opportunity.
And danger.
But the latter is a constant in his line of work, really.
So, in the end..."Nothing has changed."
His voice echoed in the tiny office, reminding him of the reason why it was such a small room in the first place.
Because it was so tiny, you see, it was very easy for someone who basically inhabits it 24/7 to memorize the place in its entirety.
To know what form of sounds the floor makes when walked on.
How the carpet moves ever so slightly with each shift of a chair.
The trembling of his desk for every step made inside of the room.
The movement of his favorite vodka, still inside of its containing bottle.
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... the infernal thrill, the boiling blood rushing through his body as he carefully, soundlessly reached for his own modified revolver.
For this time, the floor made sounds, yet not the kind it does when walked on.
The carpet moved, yet not quite as slightly as it does each time a chair shifts.
His desk did not tremble at all.
His vodka did not move either, yet in its reflection he could clearly see them.
Bare, glistening and glowing in the darkness.
The fangs of a previously mythical beast, poised to strike at any given moment.
Aimed right at his bare, human neck.
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Don't mind me guys and girls! I'm just a line break...
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Mere moments later... - Divine Wind Academy (Underground Arena) - Leonardo's Point Of View...
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"Looks like the tournament is going to be put on pause, ladies and gentlemen! Our resident viziers have discovered clear traces of mind-control, particularily the kind which issues blood rage, in our two previous contestants! As such, until the investigation is completed and all the other compettitors checked, the tournament cannot continue. In the meantime, please do enjoy a free meal. We thank you for your patience and understanding!" The bitch announcer exclaimed with some confusion in her tone as a shadowed man approached her and whispered into her ear.
Shrugging and deciding not to question them, I promptly signaled the vampire waitress."You called, sir?"
"Yeah, I'll have three portions of spaghetti bolognese. You don't need to make any of them free and would you happen to have any rakija?" She blinked and tilted her head in confusion.
Mislav's eyes widened in surprise."Rakija? Now that is a drink I hadn't expected you to know about much less consume, friend."
I quirked an eyebrow at him."You do realize that I'm Italian, right? What kind of Italian man never tries Balkan alcohol?"
"Yes well, in case you didn't know, the englishmen refer to it as moonshine." He replied with a snort and I rolled my eyes."Not the same thing."
"Well yes but you can't really expect an establishment in Japan to have real rakija." I let out a sigh."Whatever, they had some in China, pretty popular too. Anyways, bring me some vodka then, the lightest you have."
A nod from the now utterly confused vampire girl was my answer as she blinked away."Lightest?" My companion questioned me, this time mimicking the vampires confusion."But Rakija is a heavy drink, sometimes even more so than vodka so why would you order it lighter?"
"I don't like the taste of vodka and I don't normally drink alcohol at all. Still, I currently feel like drinking some and as such, I am going to." If he had eyes, he would have blinked."I.. see... that is a fairly hedonistic statement."
"I will live my life to its fullest. I shall exploit everything and anything to get my way, even people. You want to call me a hedonist for that? Go ahead, but I assure you what I am is much, much worse." I explained as I drank the last of my coke, the fizzy fluid scraping against my throat like fire.
"Well, I suppose that you really aren't an angel after all with that kind of lifestyle... but tell me, how do you manage it?" He questioned me and caused me to blink in confusion."Manage what exactly?"
The man hummed in response."You appear to possess more than one divine artifact bound to your very soul. These artifacts, they don't just stay there. They actively seek out their hosts emotions, sins and virtues... if one does not fit their bill, they attack and rebel against the host. This is why not just anyone can weild such a weapon." He explained with some effort as he did his best to both eat and speak. The man hadn't eaten anything in weeks, apparently."That.. is news to me."
A nod."I figured as much... earlier today, we found out that I could hear the name of your sword, which supposedly makes me worthy of wielding it, correct? Truth be told, my soul is attuned to most divine artifacts for the sole reason that I am a flaggelant."
"You mean the artifacts like you because you beat yourself for your sins?" He let out a subdued chuckle."I suppose... yet in truth, flaggelation is more than simply beating myself for anyone can do that. To be a flaggelant means to think on ones own wrongs and punish thyself for them, expelling any notion of failure and commanding thy own mind to never repeat such a wrong again."
"Thats literally what I just said..." I deadpanned him, causing the man to sigh."Yes.. I guess that one who has never experienced our rituals would think as much. Its one of those things a person has to feel for themselves and it cannot really be explained through words... its almost as if the pain during the rituals cleanses our souls of sin."
"You suffer here instead of in Hell. Preemptive cleansing of one's soul.. hmm, that sound almost familiar. Extend your hand and tell me if this is the feeling you get during a ritual." The man tilted his head sideways in confusion yet followed my orders without a hitch.
He extended his right hand towards me with an open palm and I locked mine with it and then closed my eyes. I focused deep into myself, looked into the very furnace of my soul, towards the incredible hellfire which burned away at the souls of those I kill, have killed and will kill, not to mention my own soul.
I locked onto a batch of flame and separated it from the rest, willing it forward and, much like the fleshweaving magic had me doing beforehand, caused the flame to flow out from my heart, through my arm and into my palm."A-a-..aaah.. this.. this feeling..."
He swallowed in both fear and confusion as he removed his hand from mine."Y-yes.. this is it... what did you just do?!"
I let out a laugh."That, my friend, was just a taste of Hellfire."
To my surprise, the man shook his head in negative."No, that couldn't be it. I've felt Hellfire burning on my skin... this is similar yet... so very.. pure."
A grin was his answer."Indeed?"
"Yes.. it was.. clean, without the filth of hell's essence... essence.. the life force of the flames.. its .. the same as.. yours.." A grin that went from ear to ear what was I now sported."You... who, what are you?.. are you the.. the entity?"
I laughed at the man, laughed so hard that the entire stadium began to stare which made me have to stop myself."N-no, dear God no I'm not the entity."
The man just asked if I was Chaos itself... hmm, well hes not totally wrong.
Hell, if I didn't pass the maturity ritual he would have been correct.
Makes you wonder how all this would have happened if I didn't.
I channeled my energies onto the glass table we were sitting at and separated some of it from the table. Then, I molded the glass into the shape of a vial which I then filled with my boiling blood and handed it to the man."One day, when you feel that you are ready, drink from that vial. I truly wonder what will become of you once you do."
He swallowed down hard and nodded, safely storing the vial on the inside of his own scarred body."I-I.. I must go... will you tell me where to find you afterwards?"
A deep chuckle was his answer."Oh I think you'll know where I am regardless. And even if you don't..." I locked my eyes onto his chest, towards his rapidly beating heart."I'll know where to find you."
I took in a deep breath, taking in several whisps of residual essence and isolating his. With this, I can easily pick him out of a crowd of thousands, for no life-force is the same as anothers.
Well, unless ones life force is the same as the cradle of life itself, like mine."I.. I see. W-well, good bye then, my... friend?" That last part sounded more like a question than a statement.
But I ignored it. After all, the man did surprisingly well for having encountered my eldritch self.
Suddenly, my phone rang and I took it out of my pocket to reveal Anna calling me. Hmm, I wonder what is it now?"Yes?"
"Ahh, master! Why didn't you tell us that you're going to the tournament!?" Anna said on the phone as Belle could be heard pouting in the background."I didn't know I was going to it myself. My sister drove me here saying how I'd help her patrol the school or whatever."
Someone behind me recoiled at the mention of the word sister for whatever reason."Ah, that makes sense. Anyways, could we come too? My sister is ... eager to get out of the Mansion."
I shrugged."I don't see why not. Could actually use you two here, as some idiots might not appreciate my pressence here too much."
And with that, I shut the phone and put it onto the table."H-here's your order, s-sir!" The vampire waitress said as she began shaking, suddenly terribly afraid of me for some reason."What's gotten into you?"
She continued shaking."M-m-me? N-n-nothing! I-I d-d-d-deffinely didn't t-t-take a l-l-look a-at your s-s-soul or a-a-anything..."
Ahh. She must've seen all the people chained to me was subsequently creeped the hell out. Who can blame the poor girl?
I merely shrugged and placed a finger onto her lips."Shh, its our little secret, okay?"
"Mhm!" She nodded and quickly warped away as soon as she finished placing the plates onto the table. I laughed as I watched a two-hundred year old vampire flee in terror."Guess you were right, Yomi. These Inhumans... they're all just people in the end."
"Yup." She confirmed with a rather joyous spree of chuckles which made me feel light and relaxed.
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Don't mind me guys and girls! I'm just a line break...
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Guess that's it for now.
I gotta go have some lunch.
See ya in a few hours!
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Anyways, read and review! And Good Morning/Day/Night to you all! ADIOS FOR NOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!