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

So eh, I guess this means the one-chapter-marathon ended.

Wasn't really ever started to begin with considering that I got sick.

Oh well.

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

Two days later and after classes.. - The City Of Sorcierre - Alice's Point Of View...

"I'm seriously going to squash that stupid, flaming skull of his once I have the chance to summon him again..." Muttering angrily beneath my own breath caused my fellow students to quickly move away from my angered form.

Why am I angry, you might be asking?

Because despite fathers rather-suspicious claim that the borefest subjects, known as World History and Divine Literacy, would reveal some kind of ironic and overly dramatic connection to Chaos that this world of ours supposedly has...

There was nothing of the fucking sort. Which means that I paid undue attention to the aforementioned borefests, both of which spouted the same bullshit for hours on end.

World History, as one might expect, started with all the theories of the worlds birth, the origins of the races and so forth.

Divine Literacy, dear heavens forgive me for saying this, is the same utter bullshit just in a more religious format.

This is why I am currently stomping my way out of the classroom with a gigantic frown on my face. This was a fucking waste of my time!

Made even worse by the fact that I ALREADY KNEW EVERYTHING WE SUPPOSEDLY LEARNED TODAY.

Granted, what I knew was dilluted by my own kingdoms egoistical viewpoint, but still...

I let out a massive sigh as Alex the coachman waited patiently for me outside. Though I sent him back home, he seemed to be rather adamant on staying with me unless is otherwise neccessary. Apparently, his dreams told him to do so and, as such, who is he to disobey dreams?

"Ah, mistress! You are finally here. Mister Yvain sends an inquiry to you from the castle saying that that while the building of your secret vault is progressing much faster than anticipated due to your fathers aid in finding a good spot for it, its still far too slow so he wishes to use some of your newly acquired wealth to hire more workers. The reason he sends you this inquiry is because he fears that doing so may catch the attention of the king." He explains casually as I enter the carriage and begin mindlessly counting my coin. It seems that this has become a rather questionable quirk of mine, though respected by most people.

"We have a bunch of abnormaly loyal guards at the castle, don't we? Surely they could provide some of the heavy lifting. If not, find someone good at spying and hire them to root out the other spies first, then hire the required labor-men." I replied to the white-haired and obviously lunatic coachman as he beamed me a smile.

"I see..." He wrote my reply into his personal diary so that he wouldn't forget it the next the he goes to the castle. Which is probably soon so I might as well use him while he is still here."So where shalt we go now, mistress? Do you wish to be driven to your new home or perhaps a stroll around the markets is in order? There are many wonderous things around to buy and I am sure you could use the diversion!"

He exclaimed happily as he talked through to me through a small opening in the upper front of the carriage. It was a rather dangerous thing to have, since an arrow might fly right inside of the carriage or so one would think. Disgustingly enough, this was made in such a way that an arrow would first have to go through the coachman, thus warning the nobility inside of danger.

I wished to close it, but its secondary purpose, that being the fact that it allows for silent conversation between those inside the carriage and the coachman out front, delays what is most likely inevitable."I need to find a good tailor, so the market it is."

A nod was my answer as he lashed the two black horses up front, stallions personally raised by father, thus making the carriage move forward. Unconsciously, I pulled out one of the books belonging to the higher years of education."Of Standardized Fire Magic and how to properly wield it."

What a uselessly long and somewhat stupid name. Honestly though, fire mages are usually the weird people. Sure, it might be one of the most popular magics out there for the simple reason that it is fire, but only the most deranged of people can really master it. Or so I am told...

Wait, does that mean that everyone has an inner pyromaniac?

Hmm, I suppose watching something or someone you hate burn alive would be rather stress-relieving.

Makes me wonder how watching someone be boiled alive would feel like though... Water was always seen as something partially divine, what with its ability to heal wounds and rejuvenate the soul, but everyone knows that with the proper chants and knowledge, water can become far, far deadlier than any mortal blade or poison.

Anyways, I opened the book and read the very first passage."Fire magic is one of the few magics out there apart from the very Arcane itself, that relies on the users emotion to properly function."

I felt something inside of me cringe.

Chaos seemed to twist and turn and shake uncomfortably, sending ripples through my mind as its voice echoed.

Not quite.

"Not quite? Huh... how weird." It would seem that Chaos desires to aid me in my studies. All I have to do now is properly interpret what it meant by *not quite*.

Perhaps it should be taken literally; as in the knowledge from the book is not quite correct, but not all that wrong either. But if fire magic does not rely on emotion alone to be successful and strong, what does it rely on?

Chaos did not give any form of semi-verbal reply... what it did was send me a set of images. Taking out one of my notebooks, ironically enough the one assigned to my elemental classes, I began scribbling what I saw in the momentary vision.

Surprisingly, my artwork seemed to be somewhat decent.

The image I drew seemed to show several strange circles, or orbs I suppose, which were sourrounded by much smaller orbs and had other, also smaller orbs inside of them.

Good.

Chaos replied to my assessment of the drawing, which meant that I was probably on the right track but... staring at the drawing, I could not even begin to comprehend its meaning.

What does it all mean?

Another set of flashes etched itself into my thoughts, this time it was numbers. That is to say; 0, 1 and -1, respectively. There was also a large circle sourrounding the center orb, which seemed to be going through the middle of the orbs around the center orb.

Were the outside orbs going around the center orb? And what do the numbers mean?

Looking at the picture again, I drew the circle around the center orb as best I could, making sure that it went through the middle of the outside orb as I did. I also wrote the numbers above the picture.

I had hoped that doing this would offer some insight into what is going on and how exactly all this is connected to fire magic, but all it did was make me scratch my head in confusion."Uhh..."

Not magic. Fire itself.

Chaos explained as best it could, seemingly trying to be a good teacher... and I'm sure it was, me not comprehending this is probably all my fault.

Yet, somehow I sense that Chaos is also witholding the correct answer from me, attempting to make me come to the right conclusion on my own. I'm not sure how to feel about this...

Not magic, but fire itself?..."I don't get it." I exhaled in dissappointment as I stowed the notebook away and reassainged it ironically to: The Lunatic Scribbles of Alice Pendragon.

Why? Hell if I know, just felt like it."Mistress, we are here... though it appears that the tailor has been.. closed."

I walked out of the carriage to inspect the sourroundings and immidiately regretted it as I found a myriad of people staring right at me. Shaking my head out of my stupor and looking away from their prying eyes, I said."Alex, please stay here for now..."

"As you wish, milady. Are you sure you don't want me to follow you?" I blinked as I pointed towards the carrige's back end, causing his eyes to go wide and prompting the man to nod."Ah, I see. Very well then, your highness. I shall eagerly await your return, right here."

Laughing merrily at his dramatic bow seemed to work in my favour as the crowds eyes turned away from me to some extent. Turning back around, I realized why Alex sounded so confused.

The tailors shop, affectionately called The Higher Weave, was not truly closed. The doors were, in fact, wide open... but there was nobody inside. At least, nobody was at the counter and the front of the obviously prestigious tailor was... less than in optimal condition."Hello? Is anyone there?"

I squeaked out somewhat uncharacteristically."Go away! I have no time for you uncultured fools!" The voice of an old man echoed throughout the shop as I closed the door."Not even for a High Lady who is a student of Magic?"

Was my rather badly-thought out reply as the old man scoffed and yelled."No. Now fuck off before I call the guar-OW! FUCK! You made me drop my hammer! GO AWAY!"

Now that, made me more interested in this old man more than anything else possibly could have. I promptly walked through the open back door and into what appeared to be a workshop. The gray-haired old man seemed to be wearing tattered clothing, the kind that you could see on nobles who were forced to stay inside of their castles during sieges. Golden embroidery and rich silks adorned the utterly raped shirt and formerly royalesque pants the man wore... He seemed to have no shoes on.

His physical form was even worse off. His back was hunched, eyes black and tired and numerous untreated cuts and bruises covered the old man. Around the workshop were intricate, kobold-king candles... or they would have been, had they not burned out several weeks ago. On one of the ebony desks, worms began devouring the wood as the bits of food which were left on the table had long since grown so atrociously bad that not even the worms would consume them. It also smelled really fucking bad.

"Are you done gawking?!" The old man exclaimed angrily as he finally noticed me... or perhaps he noticed me immidiatelly and merely thought I would leave once I saw the condition the place was in."Err, no?"

Hearing my answer made him give out a sigh."Finish quickly then, I have work to do and disturbances such as yourself cannot be allowed to linger!"

I deadpanned the man, trying my best to bite down my disgust."What are you doing here, old man?"

"Old man?!" He scoffed in disgust."For a supposed High Lady.. to call me an old man instead of esteemed Master Tailor Merriel!.. your parents sure raised you well." He blurted out in a sarcastic tone."Well yeah, they have, considering they're both dead."

Now this, seemed to make the man pause as he turned towards me, bowed apologetically and said."I... I am sorry, young lady. I... am not well, so I-"

"Its fine. I don't really care about the-or well, about one of them anyways. Now, I'll ask again, what are you doing here, Master Merriel?" I asked him with a quirked eyebrow as he returned the gesture and then turned his head back around and towards the giant in the room.

A massive machine of some kind, with numerous magical runes and intricate components."Ah.. I am... building a machine. Something that will revolutionize tailoring forevermore!"

"Oh? Can you explain?" I said as I approached the machine and took a closer look at the most striking components. There were rows and rows of needle's... the first few rows seemed to be made out dragon teeth or bone, as they shone their pale white. The next row was made out of what appeared to be rich obsidian and then... steel, iron, copper and brass.

Was this something intentional? Or a telltale sign of the shops descent into poverty?

Most likely the latter. The old man sighed as he watched me."Yes.. it is as you are thinking. The last few rows show how little wealth I have right now and what I had before."

I took one look at the front row, the one made out of fucking dragon teeth and then back at the old man and his tattered clothing."You do realize that you could sell one of the needle's from the first row and probably live like a king for a month?"

"Yet in doing so, I would shatter the beautiful uniformity of the row itself!" He complained, seemingly horrified by my answer as I promptly pointed at the following rows."You really think these are uniform?"

A blank look was my answer as he eventually conceeded and nodded."Alright fine, you've made your point, little lady... I'll sell the obsidian needle's and restore this place to a proper condition. But, I have to ask, why are you here?"

"Because I have need of a tailor?" I tilted my head in confusion as I answered what was, to me at least, an obvious question. He sighed."Look, I appreciate the effort, but until this machine is finished, I refuse to sew anything."

I looked at the machine."If you were to reduce the costs of the machine's creation to their lowest possible amount, how much would it be?"

"Three hundred gold, at least." He replied with a smirk upon his face and I sighed."Bullshit."

Again, my deadpan answer startled the old man as he grit his teeth."Okay, fine. Since this is my first machine, I could probably settle for making all the required components out of steel and selling the others.. But I refuse to go below fifty gold!"

"Thats two hundred and fifty less than your original estimate old man. I think I can see how you lost it all in the first place." I laughed at him and promptly took out my purse, causing the old man to gape."Uhm, little miss? Whatever might you be doing right now?"

"Making an investment." I promptly handed him the gold and took out some paper he had stowed away under one of his desks gathering dust, thankfully not the one full of rotting food. I began writing a deal."I, Alice Pendragon, hereby grant a sum of fifty Clausian Gold coins to the Master Tailor Merriel in order to aid him in the completion of his machine. The given sum may be increased or decreased depending on how things go, but the coin given shall not be considered a loan. Thus, whatever the end result, Master Merriel will not be indebted to me in any way. However, should the machine be a success, 20% of any profits earned throughout its existence are rightfully mine. Singed, Alice Pendragon." I finished writing and made another copy of the deal as the old man gaped at me."W-w-wha?"

"From what I can understand, this machine is meant to solely produce high quality clothing without the need for the talented hands of a master tailor. Or perhaps simply to ease the process of tailoring itself to one who knows how to use it, correct?" I handed him the papers after signing each with my rather not-so-exquisite penmanship. But plastering my family seal should be proof enough of the validity of the document.

Merriel nodded somewhat stupefied."Y-yes b-but, h-how?.." I laughed at him before replying."It was easy to figure out given your occupation and the amount of needle's there are on the machine. Well, are you going to make a deal with me or not?"

He swallowed down hard and looked at the paper."Short and simple... you are not a merchant. Yet there is a rather cruel, if not outright terrifying feeling within the words... I feel as if I am making a deal with the devil."

Now that, made me pause and grow somewhat angry."Old man. Do not make me hurt you." I promptly opened up my right palm and made a heavenly sigil, drawing forth holy light and making it gather in my palm."Say something like that again and I will cast such a painful exorcism on you that people will hear you scream from five miles away."

He blinked and rose both hands up defensively."A-ah, I-I s-see! N-no, that will not be n-neccessary, young lady! I shall accept your investment into my work!"

Quickly stowing away the fifty gold coins that I gave him and plastering his own sigil upon the two papers, he handed me the documents and let out a breath of relief as I turned away."Well then, master Merriel, I hope to see you again soon!" I cheerily waved him goodbye as I walked out of the shop, leaving a dumbfounded and, perhaps utterly terrified, old man to his work.

Master Merriel... that old fool is a famous tailor whose works are adorned by Queens and Kings! Even if his machine fails, the depression caused by that event will make it easy for me to lure him into returning to normal tailoring while reaping the benefits! Though perhaps lessened than what I would get otherwise.

Now this, my friends, is what I call a profitable arrangement, indeed!

"Ah!" I blinked as my memories caught up to my growing ego. In my delusion, I forgot the reason why I even looked for a tailor in the first place. I need to buy that erudite peasant some better clothes before what he has becomes nothing at all...

One look at the sad building behind me made me turn away from it, not willing to disturb the old man any more than I already have. Sighing in annoyance and dissappintment, I walked into the carriage."Ah, mistress! Have you accomplished what you wanted?"

I shook my head at him, causing the coachman to quirk an eyebrow in curiosity at me."Nah, the old man inside... should be left well alone, for now. Lets look for another tailor."

"As you will, milady." He replied, tone still wrought with curiosity as I promptly ignored his unsaid question, or questions, and continued trying to comprehend the chaosborne image granted to me.

Why do I feel like I'm looking at some serious heresy when I look at this picture though?

Perhaps this is some kind of forbidden knowledge? Hmm, if so, then maybe if I seek more of its kind will I become able to understand this picture better...

I just hope the gods won't dislike me for it.

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

And that is it for this chapter!

I hope you enjoyed it.

HERESY! .. Uh, sorry, just had to get it out of me.

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