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

So while I know that I originally wanted to make this chapter into a lemon...

However, after seven days of intense mind digging, I decided not to.

My reasoning? The other lemons are only as good as they are because of the meaning and soul put behind them. Every lemon was made for and with a singular purpose.

To advance the story? To spice up the plot? To build upon a character?

Or all of these in one? In any case, the amount of progress this lemon would make if it was wholy written... is about the same as me just mentioning the fact that they had sex.

Thats about it.

Boring and uninspiring, which is why I'm just gonna eat my own words and continue the story without the lemon.

Sorry to all of you who are probably gonna be dissappointed by this turn of events, but after dishing out like five chapters in three days and then making a full stop for apparently no real reason, I've decided that this is not a roadblock I can affort to wait out.

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

Unknown time... - The Red World - Leonardo's Point Of View...

"Haa.." A deep breath resounded from my mouth as I woke from my slumber. The taste of the air was.. clear.

Yet ablaze, burning hot like molten lava.

So before I even opened my eyes fully, I knew exactly where I was."Chaos? ... Once again I am brought here without a single note of warning." I mused to myself for a bried moment.

My hands regained feeling as I deduced that I had been sleeping on something wooden. Something which was not made for sleeping, as the wood was uncovered and hard on my back.

Finally taking note of my sourroundings, I realize that I am currently inside of a Church."Or a Cathedral of some kind more like..."

Muttering out as I took in the sheer size of the building I was in, I leaped off the consencrated, burning pew like an agile cat. *SPLASH!*

An echoing blast of sound nearly ruptured my ears as Chaos did what it does best and overdramatized the situation. A quick look at my feet confirmed the fact that the entirety of the Cathedral floor was drenched in crimson blood... No... wait, something is wrong here.

A gargling sound escapes me as I struggled to breathe, finally realizing that the entirety of what I believed to be air was in fact, blood."Did you think that was air you were breathing?"

My own voice fills my mind as I remember its introductory line and chuckle, despite myself. Closing my eyes, I decide to do the only thing plausible in this situation.

Take a deep, deep breath.

To my surprise, Chaos decided not to fuck me over this time. In fact, it seemed to approve of my decision, as the liquid blood I inhaled returned life to my lungs and allowed me to regain myself.

The Cathedral, while large, did not posess a second floor where the usual choir would sing its consencrated songs, yet it did seem to posess a number of chevette, whereast familiar pictures were placed... that it to say, there were only two pictures, only two sole works of divine art.

Disturbed and twisted in the image of Chaos.

To the left stood the picture of the Archangel Michael, wielding his flaming sword and eradicating legions of demons pouring from a gate to hell at his feet... yet upon his pale angelic face was a twisted smile, elicing a maddening, soundless tune with a tone filled with bloodlust and a desire for carnage. His flaming sword, usually only halfway burning, was now entirely glowing red. His hair, normally hidden behind a golden helmet, was now set free, wild and white. His body, formerly entirely protected by a holy armor of steel and iron, was now naked and bare.. in fact, the angel seemed to be drawing forth a near inconcivable vitality from his own scarred, butchered and bleeding flesh. The area around the angel was no longer sacred, sanctified ground, but covered in copious amounts of blood and demon guts, several clawed limbs lay impaled upon once golden spears, rusted from the blood flowing down them.

Why... the angel seems to be a lot like...

I shook my head in disbelief.

To the right was a more famous work of art, that is to say it was the picture depicting the so called Last Supper. With the holy son in the middle and his apostles at his side, the picture was... mostly normal. With only one clear diffrence.

The wine, was truely the blood of Christ, as the apostles, like squirming vermin, greedily drank from the holy son whose hands were bound in prayer for the lost souls around him. Those closer to the holy host however, were not drinking of his blood, but directly devouring his own flesh, feeding endlessly upon the tortured son of God who had tried to cleanse them of their sins.

The true face behind his failure.

Suddenly, the closed eyes of Christ opened, seemingly to stare at me before closing back, almost as if in dissappointment, perhaps pity.

Gritting my teeth at its once-again closing eyes, I forcefully turn myself away from the picture.

The walls to the left and right held many weapons and plaques, below them alchemical tables seemingly set up in a mocking gesture, enflamed liquids and the stench of rotting acids soared through the blood which had replaced air like a hemorrhagic, fevered aerosol.

In the middle was a familiar altar, bearing the equally familar crimson cloth upon its surface. Above it however, floated my divine blade, my Caedes in all of its glory. Its burning frame forced me to stare at the picture of the Archangel once again and I grit my teeth at its smirking frame."What? What do you want to tell me!? That I'm next? Was Eadom your descendant? Or maybe you are his?! Am I meant to-"

The sound of turning pages echoed somewhere behind me and I turned my head around once more. There, hidden seemingly impossibly in the darkness, was a floating book clad in gold and the white cloth of God. Rolling my eyes, I approached it, causing the Candle Of Life to appear in front of me, seemingly intent on shedding some light onto the words.

But it was not alone, for the two pieces of Eadom's soul which I had collected beforehand also appeared floating beside the book, one on each of its sides. Shrugging, I focused my attention onto the seeming holy grimoire."No title?"

I muttered out in further annoyance, this seeming meaninglessness, the atmosphere of *all will be revealed in time* was really getting on my nerves.

Opening the book, I was temporarily blinded by a flash of light, as one of the Jerusalem Crosses which were the physical representation of Eadom's soul melted into the book, filling a strange rune with blood. My blood, now that I think about it.

Momentarily afterwards, words appeared onto the opened page."The tale of Antioch, the ninth of the twelve." Ninth of the twelve?

What the hell is that supposed to mean?.. something tells me that it does not mean that there will be twelve children of Chaos but rather.. something else entirely. Something... crueler, something... divine?

"A tale born a lie, soon to be made reality." Okay, now I'm geniuinly confused.

A part of me causes my hands to hesitate as I reflexively try to go to the next page, but I ignore it, hoping to God and back that the next set of words will reveal something less impretation-heavy. The remaining Cross melts into the book and words new appear once more."Antioch, an angel created by God during a time when perfection was all that God could make. A time when Imperfection did not exist as a concept. A time during which time itself, did not exist at all."

I laughed, that must've been a time when Chaos had a lot of fun."But his works then and there are unimportant. What matters is his work after the birth of Imperfection. A time when he was reforged anew, made to be incorruptible and focused, pure yet horrid, mad yet sane. His charge was as simple as it was dangerous, for none other than God could have handled this important piece of existence before. So, in order to make it possible for Gods child to stand in for God, God needed to ensure that Gods child had an appropriate mindset. For God desired of Antioch one thing and one thing alone, to become the Curator Of Purgatory. To decide good and evil, to bear witness to sin and virtue alike. To judge and decree in Gods place."

A quirked eyebrow etched itself upon my frame as I read this passage of the book, causing me to return to its previous part."A tale born a lie, soon to be made reality." I repeated after myself, realizing that as I had no idea that any such angel existed, nor that the title which Eadom gave me was anything more than a title, it must mean that the story in the book was, in fact, a big fat lie.".. the true meaning of the title will only reveal itself to you in due time, Antioch." A twisted tone echoed inside of my mind and I was sure that I heard Eadom's laughter thundering inside of my mind.

Yet the story revealed itself piece by piece. A lie, soon to be made real... does that mean that if I ever collect all of the shards of Eadom, this tale would become a true one?

A click resounded in my mind, the classic way for Chaos to approve of my thoughts, yet the approval did nothing to alleviate my own concerns... mostly the question; why?

But nothing came afterwards to help me see the reason and logic behind all this..."Hahahah..." I chuckled darkly to myself.

Only I would be stupid enough to seek logic and reason within Chaos. The irony of this does not escape me, as I had told Eadom how stupid it was to do this way back when he was still here, alive in all of his flayed, failed glory.

A creaking sound echoed through my mind as I noticed two separate doors appearing within the church... The one on the left leading to a dark basement and the one on the right leading up a set of golden, glowing stairs.

Finally, something easy to deduce. Left is Hell, right is Heaven.

Yet the question why still remained unanswered.

Still, with those two being here... I think its safe to say that this Cathedral represented purgatory itself."Am I to be its new caretaker?" I suddenly let out the question, seemingly unaware of it forming in my mind.

To my horror, an affirmative click resounded in my head... but now, it all made sense at least.

The uncountable amounts of people whom I've devoured... and the real reason behind my capability to bind them to myself safely was most likely this. One day, I will judge them. One day, I will listen to their stories, their sins and virtues, only to send them to their respective destinations.

Another click resounded in my mind... one which... replied to my assesment with a rather clear no.

I blinked in utter confusion."Well if that isn't the case, then what the hell is?"

Nothing.

Nothing was my answer.

I let out a sigh and promptly decided to leave the Cathedral, taking note of the suddenly appearing exit door.

Thankfully, the area outside was still how I remembered it. A gigantic island of flesh, skin and bone filled with crucified souls, burning eternally to fuel my Hellfire.

The door slammed itself shut behind me and I laughed as I took in the Cathedral from the outside. It was a giant building, with a cracked bell within its tower. Its menacing, slate spires tore away at the skies, imposing a seemingly heavy atmosphere upon anything that dared to look at them.

Taking in a deep breath, I did not fail to notice how I actually seemed to be breathing air now. I laughed at seemingly nobody other than myself as I proceeded to look around some more.

In the distance, another great island stood floating in the sky. Nordic runes flared crimson upon its surface, burning and incinerating anything which appeared near it. In its center however, appeared to be a serene glade of some kind, with a temple dedicated to meditation within the middle, radiating a sense of divinity not unlike my sword... yet still profoundly more so.

"Looks like my sisters Spirit is more biblicall than it likes to be called." I snorted at I felt my attention move elsewhere.

To the ever-so-tiny island which represented the soul of my otherworldly sibling, Alice. I felt drawn to the place, so I decidedly flew to it.

Thankfully, my Chaosborne power to command gravity seems to be working here, although that shouldn't really be that much of a surprise.

Landing onto the island, I notice that its in a much better shape than it was last time, bleeding and torn and tiny... though it is still kind of tiny, it seems to have grown a little and there are no more wounds upon it, though the lake of blood in its middle was still kind of large.

Far larger than a young girl like Alice should be sleeping in, anyway."Err.. Ali-" Something shuts out my voice and ability to talk mid sentence as I blink several times in confusion.

Ah, don't wake her up, I got it. I coughed somewhat uncomfortably as Chaos gingerly returned my capacity to produce sounds and turned my attention towards what appeared to be a treasure chest filled with gold coins.. it was fully open and shining bright, which makes me wonder how I hadn't noticed it before.

Probably something to do with Chaos... I wonder what else I hadn't noticed yet.

Walking over to the chest, I promptly take out a single golden coin only to have the Candle Of Life appear before me, floating mid-air above my left shoulder as it usually does. A quirked eyebrow and a resounding click was all I had the time to accomplish before blood burst out of my right hand and infused itself into the coin.

A piece of Gods cloth tore itself away from the candle and appeared to reshape itself into a small white chain which connected to the coin on two ends, before weaving itself into the golden metal and reshaping it aswell, eventually taking upon the shape of a golden ring with a pure white diamond on top.

Looked kind of like the kind of ring a truly devoted man would buy when desiring to propose, really. It also had some kind of runic symbols etched into its inner side, but I couldn't comprehend them.

Another click resounded in my mind as the two implausible beings at work here seemingly did not know what to do next. A look towards the ring casually forced its meaning into my mind.

It had two separate purposes to fulfil.

One was to act as a form of observer for Alice, yet my collection of souls apparently had nobody worth of taking that kind of spot and I was too valuable a pawn to risk damaging me by cutting out a piece of my own soul... not too sure how I feel about this statement, but I'll let it slide considering who I'm dealing with here.

The second purpose was to help rebuild her body to suit their purposes more quickly. While little Alice already has a relic of Chaos by her side, something which has been within her lineage for generations apparently, she still needed something of Gods origin to complete the cycle.

You see, if I can be considered a form of patient zero for these two as I am the first creature they jointly created, little Alice was bound to become their next test subject. A look of pity forged itself upon my frame as I stared at the poor, white haired girl.

Another click resounded in my mind... or better to say into my mind, as I felt something get dragged into this plane of existance... something and someone that I've come to regard as family from the moment of her birth.

A mass of floating code and crimson energy forged itself into existance behind me, the sheer complexity of the existance before me, the erratic patterns of ones and zeroes... there could be only one creature that this sphere, this mass of soul energy and computer code could represent."Aria?"

I asked the being in front of me as it seemed to turn around frantically."W-w-what?! Where am I?! Wh-.. father?"

She noticed me and I let out a sigh and a smile."Well, this wasn't how I expected to introduce you to it, but here you are, I guess..."

She appeared to blink at my words before seemingly calming down."Oh... considering what you just said, would I be correct to state that this place is.. Chaos." Through phrased like a question, it was more of a statement than anything else.

Her reply was a slow nod."Okay but, why am I here?.. not that I'm not grateful for you finally brining me to this place bu-"

"I didn't bring you here, darling. As for why you are where you are well..." I turned my head up towards the conflicted sky of white and crimson."... You should really be asking them."

A quirked eyebrow was my answer as she mimicked my behaivor and seemed to look upwards, her soul shined for the briefest moment before the white tendrils of God infused themselves within her and the thundering, soundless echo of the voice of Chaos followed soon behind them."I.. I see.."

She murmured, as if taken by some form of spell."I understand what I must do."

Crimson energy and erratic code alike merged together to form the shape of two arms, uncertain hands reaching out into the nothingness as time seemed to slow and soon, the area between those two hands was filled with floating code, ones and zeroes much like her own and yet... for more ordered.

Without any energy of their own, floating emptily and soulessly.

I understood what had happened. The duet of implausible beings decided that another Chaosborne creature was needed to infuse the ring, yet this creature had to be capable of both observation and improvement of Alice's body, while also loyal to them without any possibility of corruption.

So they pulled Aria here to write a new program, a virtual intelligence without its own sentience. A machine which would serve as Alice's observer as well as aid in reconstructing her body through the ring.

In fact, the ring was very much alike to Aria's current physical form. A biochip, except worn on a finger instead of surgically implanted inside of ones own brain.

The poor girl wont even know shes being watched.

However, before I could make any form of remark to the situation, my eyes close themselves as Aria's form infuses itself back inside of my mind and we are both kicked out of The Red World, our purpose there apparently complete for the moment.

Who knew that God and Chaos were such dilligent scientists, possessing all the care for normality and morality that all the best scientists usually do? I didn't.

But in all honestly, I should have probably figured as much considering one created life and the other pretty much everything else.

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

And that is it for this chapter of EUPHORIA!

Now to go and write its continuation in Destiny; Infernal!

Ahh, finally the connections start to form. Damn my stories have slow starts.

Anyways, hope you've enjoyed it!

Three thousand words of a single scene with no line breaks between them. I hope at least 50% of you are gonna be happy with the result.

Also, I kind of did my best describing things here but eh, its not my best ... err... thing? I'm not the best at describing things, as you can clearly see from my last statement, or lack thereoff.

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