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

Okay, so I've finally managed to settle the fk down after having to go through all the usual holiday bs.

I'm sure I don't need to tell you guys what exactly went on.

Family, friends, slicing my wrists with a credit card just so I can buy everyone a present.

Oh, I got my own share too, which was nice.

... Btw, just so you know, I've just arrived home like 3 hours ago, which means at midnight and that this chapter wasn't supposed to be written yet, but hey, enjoy it for all of its small..ness... whatever.

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

8: 30 AM - The Ruins Of Pittings - Andros' Point Of View...

Welcome Back, Destined One.

"Haaaah..." I yawned out loud as the space around me finally stabilized.

Seriously, though... Exactly which high motherfucker decided that an epilepsy-causing rainbow tunnel would be a good idea for a loading screen?

Best of all, there's no real warnings about it either, you just get dropped and voila, RAINBOWS EVERYWHERE!

...

Its no wonder most people spend their morning hours in this game playing projectile vomit.

Shaking my head out of my stupor, I take a good look around to find myself still within the recently-ruined ruins of Pittings.

...

Damn, that sounded bad, even in my head.

Shaking my head once again, I promptly stand up and grimace as I hear every bone in my body cracking from unuse. Perhaps deciding to sleep on a random bit of non-burning cobblestone was not the best idea, but I didn't exactly have much of a choice back then. School was just a couple hours away and I needed my beauty sleep...

... It's hard being Asian.

Anyways, where was I?

Oh right, I was going to-..

What was I going to do?

And why did I just suddenly want to go to the outside of Incerum's area of influence.

Wait, this sounds familiar...

A god sends you its hails... do you dare answer?

"Huh?" Is my uber-intelligent reply to that rather sudden blue screen.

Shrugging, I simply say."Yes."

An incredibly proud, resounding voice echoed in my mind."Ahh, you've actually decided to answer my hail? Good. I was just about to give up hope too!"

"Err, good morning?.. Who are you?.. I'm.. uhh... Andros." What? It's morning. My brain isn't even awake yet.

An imaginary blink followed by an amused snort played inside of my mind as the voice replied."A decently normal reply... and from someone attuned to Chaos. How odd."

The being muses for a moment before the image of an angel bowing respectfully shows itself to me."Let me introduce myself; my name is Mendrion, a god of light within this world."

Quirking an eyebrow with clear interest, I reply."Uh... Hi?"

He chuckles somewhat awkwardly before steeling himself and focusing his gaze upon me with unwavering determination shining deep within those golden orbs. His imaginary form then appears to twist itself into reality as the very imagery before my eyes shifts and tears itself apart, eventually collapsing back onto itself, as an angel clad in blisteringly white plate armor, with an iron cross and immense claymore in hand, appears in front of me."Yes, hi."

I blinked again as my brain finally managed to reconnect to reality and asked."Is.. is there something you want from me, Lord Mendrion?"

Now, it was his turn to be surprised."Polite? To me?... perhaps, even though your obvious affinity to Chaos, I should do well to remember that you are not Rhean, but merely one of its avatars."

"Me? An avatar? Of Chaos? Are you joking?" I tilted my head in confusion.

The angel rose his hands up, almost as if in disbelief."Well, what are you then, child? The Emperor took an interest in you the moment he saw you. You managed to learn an ability which is normally reserved only to those infected by Chaos. And, perhaps most rudely, you're just an incapable of tolerating my sisters presence as Rhean himself."

"I am nothing more than a mortal with a thread, the barest of connections, a crimson link which connects me to Chaos. I am not one of its avatars. I am not even one of its servants or its chosen. If anything, I am akin to a random villager that found an affinity for some ancient artifact he one day found buried in his front yard. I have a link, I have been noticed, sure, but do I understand it? No. I do not."

His confusion is evident upon his entire frame as he silently begins to ponder. Seems my explanation wasn't really that good.

Scratching my head lamely as I coughed to get his attention back, I say."Uhh, why exactly did you contact me anyways? I imagine that you want me to go on some form of quest?"

With an acknowledging nod, the angel spoke."I have come here to you with an offer... You see, I feel that I am being left behind in my understanding of Chaos by the other Primal's. So I figured that, by watching one such as yourself, I might gain insight into how it works and why."

"In other words, you figured I might attempt to follow in the Emperors footsteps and that by watching me do so, you would gain a greater understanding of Chaos, yes?" The angel nodded.

Shrugging once more, I replied."Well okay then, but... do you have any idea where I should start the journey?"

For a moment, the angel closed his eyes in thought before saying."In the capital city of the Lunarian Theocracy, is the so-called Church Of Rhean. It is a blasphemous murder cult dedicated to hunting down anyone even remotely affiliated with Chaos in order to sacrifice them to Rhean's original body in an attempt to resurrect him. Now, while he may have already come back in a different form, they don't know this and innocent people are still being butchered. Sadly, their relentless crusade has much support from the more elder elves within the city, as many there still revere the Emperor, having been born during the time of his rule, which makes them difficult to deal with. If you agree to aid me, I think we can kill two moths with one stone by dismantling their organization and.. well, I'm sure they have at least one text or artifact that isn't entirely fake somewhere in their possession."

"And how exactly do you intend to have me battle an entire murder cult alone? I mean, if they've been hunting people infected by the Emperor's soul, then their members can't be weak." I blinked at him, stupefied.

The angel merely laughed at my antics."How about we start by not charging into their territory immediately and first focus on getting you stronger?"

"Okay, but how do we do that?" In response to my question, the angel points to his left and, turning to face the distance, I notice a massive plume of black smoke raising high into the sky."There is a village nearby which is currently being raided by a band of bandits... whose leader is one of those infected by Chaos..."

GRAND ADVENTURE QUEST! Having been contacted and offered a task by none other than Rheans former nemesis; Lord Mendrion himself, you have decided to follow in the Crimson Emperor's footsteps in order to aid the angel in his understanding of Chaos... First Arc - Beyond Incerum Beyond Incerum: Village In Flames A black plume of smoke rises to the skies on the brink of the horizon...

You must save it from destruction and deal with the bandits infected leader in order to achieve victory.

But you should be mindful of what you chose to do... for Mendrion may not be the only Primal Power watching your progress here.

My eyes grow wide as I re-read the second blue screen... and a bloodthirsty smile latches itself onto my face.

A grin, from ear to ear, one apparently so shocking that it makes the angel take a few steps back."W-w-what's going on?"

Cracking my neck and pulling out my twin Emberite katanas, seething hot and jagged tools of carnage, I say with final glance towards Mendrion."Its nothing, my friend. Now then, lets go save ourselves a village, shall we?"

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

Yes, yes, I finally come back from holidays and give you a meager 1.5k words..

What can I say, I'm honestly starting to think that making ARC 2 a place where I flesh out many of my SC's has made it a tiny bit boring to type down.

Oh well, at least the scene will be constantly fresh. Hopefully, that's gonna keep you guys satisfied for the time being.

I can't wait to get this through and get Leonardo to Japan, because that's when the real bullshit is gonna start.

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