So this is the end of the story,
Everything we had, everything we did,
Is buried in dust,
And this dust is all that's left of us.
For the heroes, the present remains a mere illusion. They all carried with them the heavy, unforgiving knowledge that their existence relied solely on the past. It trailed some relentlessly, sliced open freshly patched wounds, never allowed them to taste anything but blood and shame. It followed others with quiet murmurs, whispered golden promises in their ears, dug its nails into their veins, reminded them of all they had lost.
...o...
It had been some time since the last battle. Saber was waiting for something to occur—a signal from her master, a thundering cry from the skies, a familiar predatory smirk from a certain crimson-eyed figure—anything, anything at all. She had grown impatient of wasting the days away, had tried learning to wait in darkness, and found she was unfit for the stillness of night.
Truth be told, there was never a clear distinction of the days and nights; for her, and surely for the other heroes, the two fused together in a cacophony of the sounds and sights of a borrowed world. The constructed time reminded her that her existence was false and she found that she hated it beyond reason.
She decided she was never good at waiting.
Even when she was a king, she preferred to take action instead of mulling over the minute details of a scheme. Perhaps that was why her most infamous war became her last.
Saber sighed, a short huff that only added to the tense atmosphere around her.
"What exactly is it that Kiritsugu wants us to do?"
She wasn't talking to any particular person of the two that stood before her. They had all been ordered by Kiritsugu to return to the castle and were standing around in a room large enough to house hundreds of guests. Yet, like most of the places Kiritsugu claimed to reside, the room, and the castle, remained eerily flawless, with not a single piece of furniture out of place. There was no sign that any human had ever stepped foot inside, much less lived there.
Though Saber hadn't directed the question toward either of them, it was Irisviel who decided to answer her.
"He hasn't exactly been the most transparent with me, either," she sighed. "I'm not sure I can tell you more than what he went over with you after that night with Rider."
Saber thought it strange that Irisviel was left out of the conversation, but said nothing and instead nodded, deciding not to trouble her more than was necessary. After all, with the way she protected Saber during her battle against Lancer, she proved herself to be Saber's only real ally.
"What has he told you, Maiya?" Saber looked over at the raven haired spy, who was leaning against the wall with her arms crossed.
"I was instructed to come here, as have you."
She said nothing more of the matter and opted instead to open her artillery case and reconfigure her weapons.
Saber narrowed her eyes at Maiya's irritatingly succinct answer.
So the waiting game has commenced, she grimaced to herself.
Just perfect.
...o...
It had been some time since he was able to enjoy himself in battle. Gilgamesh was waiting for Tokiomi—he refused to call him his master—to stop talking, gauge his own eyes and tongue out with a knife, fall to the ground, and die in a pool of his own blood.
He found Tokiomi's voice especially grating on his ears, and had long deemed his words unfit to enter the realms of a powerful king's thoughts. And yet, here he was, yammering on about "we must take down Kiritsugu before it becomes too late" and "my lord, your excellency, may I trouble you to use your exquisite power and vanquish the enemy you see before us?".
No, Gilgamesh thought. No, you may not, you fucking weasel.
He spent the next few moments silently cursing the artificial body he was inhabiting, angered by the fact that he was here through the mercy of a power other than his own. He, a god, was forced to stand among the worst of all those living on earth: humans, the most disgusting creatures. They would destroy, sacrifice, plunder, rape—all under the false pretense that they were achieving the large abstraction of an ideal, like glory, redemption, or worst of all, justice. Their words, like Tokiomi's, were empty shells, housing nothing but hypocrisy and fraud.
Gilgamesh decided he was better off giving into pleasure without trying to justify it; there was a sense of sincerity with which he approached his hedonistic lifestyle, as he was quite upfront with what he desired and found no reason to hide it.
There was one thing, however, that he didn't find to be terribly awful about his current situation. He thought back to when he first encountered that golden haired force of nature. She certainly piqued his interest, with her self-deprecating sense of righteousness and detrimentally naive spirit.
What was her name again?
Something about a blade?
"My lord—" Ah, there was that annoying buzzing noise again.
Gilgamesh shifted his gaze once again to the man kneeling before him, his gloved hands propped up on his knees.
Those gloves must be hiding some deeply stained red hands, Gilgamesh thought amusedly.
"I implore you to use your powers to seek out Saber, Kiritsugu's servant, and deliver her the kind of punishment you see fit. From here on out, the plan calls for her complete elimination, and I am humbled before you with my limited abilities. Please, do help my meager existence and destroy her."
That's right, he thought.
Saber.
The sound of her name sliced through the air, cutting away the unpleasant toxin that had been left by Tokiomi's unbelievably dense words. So, he wanted him to find Saber. "Very well," he replied with a wave of his hand. "Consider it done."
He turned away, stepping into the night.
As he disappeared from Tokiomi's sight, he toyed with the idea of meeting her again, of tearing apart her seemingly unwavering spirit, and piecing it back together. A grin spread across Gilgamesh's face; his eyes gleamed with anticipation.
Perhaps he would be able to find his queen yet.
a/n: Hello again! I'm writing this in hopes of escaping the unbearable heat while simultaneously, and ironically, rekindling the flames of my love for Saber & Gilgamesh. Damn, they're cute. Anyway, look forward to a few more chapters of these knuckleheads and their shenanigans. This will definitely be on the shorter side of the usual multiple chaptered stories. As always, any feedback is much appreciated!
ps: Lyrics are from Eyes Wide Open, by Gotye.
