As Gil had predicted, upon seeing Longueville with Kirche and the others, he went after them first. Meanwhile, Tabitha and Louise slipped onto the boat with Gil as their guard.

Sylphied would fly the others to the ship once Gil distracted Wardes with one of his weapons. Just to be safe, he would be providing cover fire to insure Wardes didn't have a chance of killing Longueville out of fear she would divulge the truth to them to save her own skin.

It was simple, to the point, and the best plan he could come up with on the fly. It left plenty of opportunities for error and adjustments.

It took little bribery for the captain to set off, and once they were a decent distance away, Gil drew his bow and aimed at Wardes.

The runes of Gandalfr glowed ominously as he fired. The Broken Phantasm he launched at Wardes was enough to knock him on his ass, and give Sylphied the signal to take off. Longueville, Guiche and Kirche barely managed to grab onto the ropes that had been tied to the dragon in time, but once they were in the air they were able to get on her back rather than hang on.

Wardes looked pissed, and for good reason.

Armed with enchanted arrows he had bought earlier, Gil made defense the traitor's main priority as they sliced through the air like some form of deadly rain from above. He might be the captain of the Gryffin Knights, but his spells couldn't hope to counter the sniping of an Archer class Servant, much less get off an aria from the constant barrage Gil let off.

He had bought a lot of enchanted arrows. All they had in stock, to be specific. And some they enchanted on the spot.

Kirche gave him an interesting look when they boarded the ship, too high for Wardes to fly up on his own merit without help. Sylphied had barely been able to catch up.

"Has anyone told you that you're damn scary when you want to be?"

Gil snorted.

"I'm a Servant. My stats are naturally higher than a human, and that's without getting into what they were before," said Gil amused.

"Impressive," said Tabitha in her usual monotone.

"What the hell was that?!" demanded the captain.

"A dispute with a traitor," Gil summed up. "How much do you want to forget about my attack on the idiot and continue onward?"

"Fifty gold," said the captain equally prompt. The girls and Guiche balked at the sum, but seeing Gil hand over a sack of coins and watching the captain discreetly count them, he nodded to Gil.

"Pleasure doing business with you," said the man, ignoring Gil entirely. He could care less so long as he was paid.

Seeing their disbelieving expressions, Gil shrugged.

"It's easier to simply pay what they ask than haggle, and odds are he'll speak favorably if we have to go on another mission with one of his friends. So long as their paid, most people generally ignore or keep their mouths mostly shut about any strangeness."

"Actually we're more in shock you handed fifty gold over without hesitation like that," said Kirche.

"The princess only gave me forty," said Louise, frowning.

"I did say my Gate went into my treasury. Why did you think it only contained weapons and the bulk of our supplies?" said Gil pointedly.

"He has a point," said the ever stoic Tabitha. "The word 'treasury' usually implies more than treasure."

Kirche rubbed her forehead.

"Exactly how rich are you?"

"You'll get that answer the moment I'm forced to let him loose on some poor unsuspecting idiot," said Gil without hesitation.

He didn't like his adult self, and the feeling was mutual.

"There you go again, talking about a 'him' as if that person doesn't exist. Who is 'him' and why do you dislike that person so much to refuse to give his name?!"

"Is it Gilgamesh?" interrupted Tabitha. Leave it to the quiet one to figure it out.

"Yes. I can't stand the idea of becoming like that, or understand the reason why his personality became so disgusting," said Gil.

"You're afraid. You think you'll become him," summed up Tabitha.

"I don't think, I know. It's...complicated," said Gil.

Tabitha, having reread the "Epic of Gilgamesh" as second time, had begun to form several suspicions in her mind. Which was why the next thing she said made Gil wince.

"Potion of youth?" she asked.

Gil refused to look her in the eyes.

"Actually Louise summoned me directly from the Throne of Heroes in this form. Which considering his personality is likely the only reason things haven't been worse."

Tabitha nodded, and pulled out a book to read.

"I'm confused," said Guiche.

"Well I'm not explaining it unless I have to," said Gil. "If you really must know, as Tabitha as she seems to have figured out the gist of what I've been talking about."

After a few futile attempts to get the quiet girl to explain, they mostly went to explore the ship or watch the scenery. Gil opted to lean against the wood of the ship and nap. Last night had been much easier, but that didn't mean he couldn't rest.

Tabitha's quiet turning of the page was interrupted with a question.

"Your treasury... does it have anything to cure madness?"

Gil opened a single eye and looked in her direction.

"Depends on the source."

"Potion. Almost six years ago. Even the cure hasn't worked," Tabitha summed up quietly.

"...Mother or father?"

"Mother. Father was killed prior."

"I'll have to look later, but if nothing else perhaps reverting the age a few years to before the potion might help. No guarantees though," said Gil. Tabitha nodded and returned to her book.


Three hours later...

It was the twinge on the edge of his senses that alerted him. Gil was up and moving before Louise or the others registered he was awake.

It took Longueville two seconds after realizing he was up and awake to realize what was happening.

"Pirates?"

"Worse. Another Servant, likely the Rider spirit that helped you escape."

She paled.

"The woman who ran the ship liked to mock the 'pirates' of Albion rather derisively, if that helps."

"It does. It tells me her name," said Gil.

Only one pirate from the Throne of Heroes was a woman.

Sir Francis Drake.

Knowing a hero's name gave the Master plenty to work with when it came to taking them down.

"What's going on?" asked Louise.

"Remember what I told you about the 'Grail War', and how seven Servants were summoned?" said Gil. Louise paled.

"One of them is here?"

"Rider, if I miss my guess."

"What's going on?" asked Kirche.

"We're either being stalked, or we're about to be attacked," said Gil.

"Shouldn't we inform the captain?" asked Guiche.

"Wouldn't do any good. That woman had an entire fleet capable of destroying the ship," said Longueville.

"So she's like Iskander, only with ships rather than her soldiers. That makes it easier," said Gil.

Suddenly the captain shouted "Pirates off the starboard bow!"

The feeling Gil got came from behind and to the port side. So it wasn't Rider.

"Ah, of course. The royalists," said Gil with realization. He almost relaxed, save for the fact that he knew Rider was too close for comfort...and possibly her Master.

"Louise, you go talk to the captain of the pirates, I'll keep an eye out for enemy Servants," said Gil. She nodded.

"What is all this talk about Servants?" said Kirche.

Tabitha had gone alone with Louise, while Guiche and Longueville waited close by.

"There is a magical ritual where I'm from called Heaven's Feel. It requires seven mages and seven heroic spirits called 'Servants'. The mages summon the Servants under specific classes, and have to fight it out until only one Master and Servant remain. The classes are Saber, Lancer, Archer, Rider, Berserker, Caster, and finally Assassin. When the ritual is completed the 'winner' of the Grail Wars is granted a single unlimited wish."

"I thought it was called Heaven's Feel?" said Kirche.

"It's been called many things, but the two most common titles for it are Heaven's Feel or the 'Grail Wars' because of how violent they can get. To put it into perspective, it's a commonly accepted tactic to take out the 'Masters' of the Servants, rather than confront the Servant directly because they're inherently weaker."

"I still don't get it," said Guiche.

"Let me put it another way. If Brimir was summoned as a 'Servant', then it would likely be under the Caster class. Now who would you rather fight? A legendary figure like Brimir, only limited by the class constraints, or the mage who summoned them?" said Gil.

"The mage... I see your point," admitted Guiche. When he put it like that, it was much easier to understand.

"So why are you so tense anyway?" asked Kirche.

"Because Rider is close by and they can probably sense my presence as well. And from her description, she likely has a fleet of ships ready to blast us," said Gil flatly. "But considering we have Louise on board, they might wait until she's alone to attack."

"The prince is missing!" shouted one of the crew.

"Shit."


Louise was furious, and rightly so. They hadn't expected the traitor Wardes to have brought reinforcements of his own, much less something as dangerous as the ring Cromwell had on him.

Any chances of her believing Wardes went out the window once she found herself unable to control her own body.

How dare he. How dare he?

Wales had no idea what was really happening. All he knew was that Louise had stiffened at the sight of Wardes and that the quiet brunette beside her had been watching the entire thing with laser intensity.

Tabitha knew better than to say anything. Not without her staff. However her frown said quite a bit on how she felt about the situation.

Wardes was next to Louise, who's right hand was clenched so tightly in a fist that he assumed it was to shield the ring the Princess gave her. He had no idea.

If she had any control at the moment, she would have attacked Wardes without hesitation for this farce of a 'wedding' he had put together and somehow roped Wales into joining.

Tabitha was the 'maid of honor', though she was as tense as Louise was.

Suddenly the doors slammed open, revealing a very pissed off Gil.

"Take your hands off my master, you filthy traitor."

"Who is that?" said Wales.

"Gil," said Tabitha in open relief.

Wardes put his hands around Louise's shoulder.

"What business do you have with my soon-to-be wife?" he asked calmly, as if he didn't know who Gil was.

Seeing Louise unable to even move, Gil did something that shocked the prince and Wardes.

He shot an arrow at the hidden Cromwell, startling him enough to release the spell on Louise.

Louise didn't hesitate. She blew herself up, providing enough cover for her to grab Tabitha and a very confused Wales. She managed to get behind Gil, despite the dress Wardes had forced her to wear.

"What in the name of the founder is going on?!" said Wales.

And as if the situation wasn't complicated enough, a new Servant broke through the window with a loud roar.

"Great. Just fantastic. As if we didn't have enough to deal with, some moron summoned Herakles?!" said Gil with a groan.

Berserker, or Herakles as he had been known in life, roared loudly enough to deafen most people.

Realizing the situation, and knowing how much he hated it anyway, Gil turned to Louise and the others.

"Remember what I said about 'him'?"

"You apologized in advance," said Louise.

"Well, I'll say it again. I apologize for any irritation or other negative emotions he will undoubtedly cause. Just remember not to look him in the eye unless he allows it, otherwise he'll just get bitchy about it," said Gil.

Then inside his mind's eye he saw a throne. Walking up towards it was a youth of at least twenty in a black and white outfit.

He was Gilgamesh, the adult that Gil would become.

Finally require my presence, brat?

Gil was sitting on the 'throne'. He stood up, and calmly walked beside it, allowing Gilgamesh to seize 'control'.

Gilgamesh smirked.

Time to show these mongrels what a real king is like.

"Remember, don't kill Louise or the people directly behind you," said Gil.

Tch. Like I care about such pathetic mongrels. Still, they have provided me with some entertainment, so perhaps I'll spare them, said Gilgamesh.

In the outside world, all they saw was a flash of bright golden light...before Louise suddenly registered the shocking change in her familiar.

Where Gil had been standing with his rather odd shirt and golden necklace...was the same figure she had seen in that photograph Gil had left in the book.

He wore golden armor that completely covered him. He wore golden earrings, and his very demeanor was full of arrogance and power combined. The same 'air' that Louise had felt so comfortable around had magnified at least ten times what it normally was. More importantly was the fact he had 'aged' at least five to ten years in the span of several seconds.

Louise became slack-jawed in shock.

"I don't believe it... the King of Heroes?!" she said in absolute shock. The photo and general description didn't do him justice at all.

Gilgamesh smirked.