Author's note: This story is planned to be connected to my other fanfic - Fate of Camelot. I need to write something other than that while I go forth with writing the 20k words chapter special. Just something that jogs the brain. This story is very bare bones btw. I minimally fleshed it out since I'm not sure if this is a good idea to add this into the other Fanfic.
Currently I have 3 Arcs planned.
The Drecken and Saxon Incursion Arc
The Londinium Arc
The Byzantine Arc
This Ishtar spinoff is prolly connected to the 3rd Arc. Whether or not I'll make this a separate 4th Arc depends on all of you.
Anyways. Peace
It was a full 8 months after the most impactful event of the year, the Nika Revolts. Wherein the world's most powerful Emperor at the time - Justinian - got his capital burnt to the ground by his peasants.
But the Roman Emperor isn't our main focus right now. But instead, we are looking into the man that could be said to be his equal in terms of greatness. A man who instead of focusing all his life on Imperial Conquest like Justinian did, spent his time with sweeping reforms that changed his empire from a dying nation to a rejuvenated superpower. Yes. I am talking about the one and only Khosrau Anushirawan - The Immortal Soul.
And this is the story of the man meeting someone that should not belong in the world he currently lives in.
September of 532 AD…
A man of great stature walked into the ruined city of Uruk alongside his personal guard. He was wearing silver armor littered with jewelries and gold ornaments. The emerald cape draped upon his back relentlessly swaying from the harsh desert winds. A heavy crown of pure gold rests upon his head. Making his identity clear to the Persian soldiers stationed at the ancient city.
A man from the city walked towards him and bowed with reverence to the King. He was wearing purple robes underneath the dark iron armor he was sporting. His head was covered with a purple head cover that does not hide his entire face, only partially. His physique tells a lot about the bowing man as well. He was physically fit - more than the average soldier currently at their posts in the city. It was clear to everyone seeing him that this man was not of the normal sort.
But it was the ring on his right hand that gave everything away.
"Oh great Shah (Emperor), I welcome you into Uruk. The ancient world's greatest jewel." Said the bowing man.
The Shah brought forth his hand. The one with the Imperial Seal engraved on it. And without any words, the bowing man rose up to kneeling height and kissed the ring of the Shah.
"Arise, General Hadir. It is good to see you well." The Shah said in turn as he waved his hand towards his officer.
But the gesture was misunderstood by the fearful Persian lieutenants. Who, seeing the hand wave and not close enough to hear the conversation, thought it was a silent command for everyone to bow. So, in accordance to that, the General's lieutenants bowed in unison. Causing everyone who saw to bow after them. And the rest followed like a domino chain.
The Shah was impressed by this.
"It seems I was right in giving you command of this Army, Hadir." The Shah smiled.
The men in the city heard what he said and relaxed a bit. But it did nothing to convince them that they were safe from the Shah's wrath.
"...It appears the Shah's reputation precedes thee." Commented Hadir, now fully upright.
"Good." the Shah's smile stayed put, "It would do them good to keep fear instilled within them. They will continually know their place should it persist."
Before Hadir commented on that, the two men and the Shah's guard entered the city through the main entrance. A grand bronze gate flanked by two cobalt tower - columns that is now one fifth of its original height.
"I agree, great Shah." finally replied the General, who was now thinking about the previous events from months prior.
'Well, the execution of Mazdak wasn't something everyone can easily forget. After all… many of these men secretly supported him and his beliefs. And now that the man is dead - by the order of the Shah himself - my men knew they would be killed should they utter a single word supporting Mazdak.'
"Back to the matter at hand, Hadir." the great Shah said, noticing the General's dazed look.
"R-right. Yes of course, great Shah." Hadir fake coughed to get his act together. He then guided the Shah to his camp well inside the city.
Well, what was left of the city at least. The Uruk we know that the Golden King Gilgamesh ruled over is now a ruined landscape. No stone was left on top of another. The entire place was akin to a place struck by a very powerful cyclone. The outer regions of the city were totally flattened. The middle regions have some built structures that are still standing, but they aren't safe to go near lest they collapse on you. The inner regions - the ones closest to the King's ziggurat - are still intact but are on their way to ruin. The King's Ziggurat, however…
"How did we not see this, Hadir?" Asked the Shah, mesmerized by what he's seeing.
The Ziggurat that King Gilgamesh himself is still in pristine shape. The towering structure is like a mountain compared to anything the Persian Emperor has seen. (Imagine Uruk from Babylonia Singularity)
"According to the local peoples in the area, the ancient City was a wasteland. No one lived here since the land was so barren." the General said as they neared the encampment.
"It is from these people that I found out that they had never seen that before. That is until we receive the letter from the Magistrate of the South" Hadir added as he pointed to the huge ziggurat.
"But how can that be?" The Shah exclaimed as the pair entered the General's tent. The tent is the biggest out of 20 set up around the ziggurat. Each has its own signal caller in order to call out distress signals to the rest of the tents near it.
"Look at that, Hadir. And tell me that that notion is plausible." The Shah was looking towards the ziggurat from the entrance they came in from. His mind not comprehending what he's seeing and what he's heard from his officer.
"But, great Shah. I speak the truth." Hadir quickly said as he grabbed something from his table situated at the center of the tent.
"And what is that you carry?" The Shah asked inquisitively
"It is the written accounts of all the people who witnessed the event." The General answered as he handed the parchments to the Shah.
'...I saw a blinding light appear from behind me.' the Shah read from one account. 'As I turned around, I saw lightning and heard thunder from the direction of the Ancient City…'
'... The earth shook from where I stood…' Stated the second account '...the earth split into half for a whole minute until all became silent...'
'...As I watched from afar, a great gust of wind came out of nowhere and blew me off my feet…' said the 3rd account, '...the heavens tore each other apart until as sudden as it came, everything died down…'
'...And as I stood up I saw what I would never have thought in my life…' read the 4th and last account that the Shah read… '... a mountain appeared in the middle of the ruined city…'
As the Shah brought the parchments down to the table whence it came, he asked the General.
"Did anything strange happen while I was gone, Hadir?"
"No, great Shah. But -"
CRACKLE
"...Strange things began happening when I sent the request for your presence..." The General said as he paled from the sound. But the Shah was unmoving.
"Explain." The Shah commanded.
"The earth gave way in the northern regions where we formerly decided to set up camp. Stone and lightning plagued me and my men from above day in and day out. The local scribes and religious leaders from the neighboring towns came a week ago and started doing these strange rituals to "Appease the gods" as they say." The General said.
"Did you send an expedition to investigate the structure?" the Shah asked.
"Yes, great Shah." The General became even paler as he continued, "That is why I sent for you."
The Shah blinked at that and wanted to press on further when a thought came across his mind.
"You said that these strange things started happening when you called for me, yes?"
"That I did, great Shah. After a week has gone by the strange things have begun. As the weeks have gone by they have intensified accordingly." Hadir was cold sweating at that point. Something the Shah could not help but notice.
"You're afraid, aren't you."
"N-no, great Shah!" The General hastily replied, "I am a bit unnerved, yes, but not afraid."
Even though he clearly was, the man was defiant about the fact. Hadir was willing to lie about his fear and decided to put up a front even to the Shah himself. An admirable quality in the eyes of the Shah.
"You also said that you sent some of your men to investigate the structure? What happened to them?" asked the Shah
"Well…"
CRACKLE
Everyone except the Shah and his guards flinched in fear at the thunder. Hadir tried to hide it but he failed to do so since the Shah noticed.
"... Why are you all so afraid?" asked the Shah. when he looked to his General, said General was already composed and pensieve. As if he was reminiscing something.
"...Allow me to explain, great Shah." then said Hadir.
Weeks ago...
"General! The men have returned."
"Excellent. Let me see them."
"Of course. If you would follow me."
The General ordered a thorough but quick expedition into the towering structure to see what is inside. Before all this, he was busy organising the tent array that surrounds the entire structure. As of now, half the tents are fully set up and equipped.
Hadir walked with his lieutenant through the inner regions of the inner city. Stopping only a few hundred feet from the base of the ziggurat. As he gazed upon his surroundings, he saw someone running towards them. From the looks of it, he's a young, short, insignificant petty soldier.
"General! You're finally here."
"Hafaz. What's wrong?"
As the petty soldier neared the General and the lieutenant, the General ordered.
"Report to me everything, Soldier. What happened for you to be like this?"
The last question was about the dirtied clothes the soldier is currently sporting, the tired and exhausted expression he's wearing after running so fast. The man's right arm was bleeding from the long sword cut starting from the elbow to the wrist.
"The men! The men have gone mad!" his words became ineligible from how fast he was speaking. But the part that the General needed to know was clearly heard by said General. Knowing this new information, he acted accordingly.
"Lieutenant. Get Hafaz treated. And call for my guards."
"What will you do, General?
"I'm going to see what's wrong."
And with that, the General headed to where the crazed men were.
"I'm guessing everything went south from there. Yes?"
"..." the General nodded in silence, his head down from sadness.
"What did you see, Hadir?" the Shah pressed.
"The men. They became insane. Their mouths were foaming and were spouting nonsense. Anything I could understand from them still doesn't answer the question of how they became like that." the General replied.
'If someone like Hadir truly did become distressed because of this situation, then this problem really is a grave one." the Shah thought as he planned his next move.
'...All of these things that had happened points to me being here. But why? It is clear from the thunder and lightning that my presence is known and expected. But by what? And from what Hadir said about the crazed men, they have become cursed. Whatever the curse is and who cursed them must be something dangerous...'
'...From what I can think of doing right now is both risky and rewarding. Whoever is inside that structure wants me. I can use that to my advantage...'
5 minutes later, the Shah has formulated a plan.
"Hadir. Prepare 400 men for another expedition. We are going to that structure."
"What?! Uh, I mean. Not to insult the great Shah's wisdom, but is this truly the correct course of action?"
Hadir panicked at the order. He was scared shitless because of that thing. And after telling the Shah all the terrible things he's gone through, he'll go back there again? Yeah, that's something even Hadir couldn't handle.
"The thing within the structure has called for me. From what you have told me, all the things you have experienced while staying here was a message. What that is is beyond me. All i know is that this is the right thing to do."
"...When will the Shah depart?" Hadir asked, no longer in the mood of objecting towards his leader.
"As soon as your men have fully prepared."
And with that, the general left his tent to call for the ablest soldiers in his army.
Hours later… near the entrance of the King's Ziggurat
"Alright! Are all of you here prepared?"
"Yes, great Shah. All of the men here have been informed of what we need to do."
"Good. Call upon the army mages. See to it they do their task."
"Yes, great Shah. MAGES!"
Here is the plan the Shah formulated within the past few hours. First, detect if there are any bounded fields surrounding the structure using the army mages - a detail the General didn't think of during the first expedition. Second is to use the 1st Lancer Corps to shield the Shah should something arise from prodding the bounded fields. When both phases of the plan have finally been accomplished, the Shah alongside Hadir will lead 2 cohorts into the ziggurat.
As the mages moved toward the ziggurat. They started chanting in a language everyone present doesn't know. They keep repeating the same phrase over and over again at some point of the process until.
"Wh-what's this?!" A Mage asked surprised
"This power… we've never seen anything like it!" Another Mage commented.
"Head mage! Explain what is going on." Hadir commanded the man. Said Head Mage is a man in his 60s and is alongside the two mages who spoke.
"The barrier is being powered by an ancient magic. A magic powerful enough to belong to the gods!" the Head Mage exclaimed.
"Can you break it?" The Shah asked
"I do not think so great Sha-"
"Head mage! The barrier!"
As the first mage shouted, a blinding light erupted from the barrier. Causing everyone to look away. A great gust of wind came from the ziggurat, forcing everyone to take cover lest they get blown away. Poor Hafaz, he got blown away 15 feet away before he managed to ground himself.
It took a few seconds for the wind to die down. Everyone but the 1st Lancer Corps - who were in solid formation out of instinct - and the Shah - who seemed like his feet were rooted on the earth - were on their backs. General Hadir recovered quickly to ask an open question.
"What in the world was that?!"
That was in turn answered by someone.
"That, mortal, was a taste of my power."
But it wasn't any of the Persians present. No. The voice who answered wasn't Persian. The voice held authority and power. Like the Shah. It felt like the voice carried the weight of age like the old Head Mage. But it wasn't time-worn like said Head Mage. It was also… strangely feminine.
As everyone looked up towards the origin of the voice, they saw a being floating above them riding on a weird looking blue crescent attached to another crescent. To us, it is obvious what it is, but to them… the fact that it is unknown to them is what makes the being more terrifying.
The being on top of the strange device can be described as a shadowed figure, as the light from the sun is blocking anyone from clearly seeing her whole body. But to the great Shah, this is nothing to him. For he is blessed with eyes that see more keenly than any other.
She was wearing a strange crown on her raven black hair. It is composed of black spikes that look like spear tips with gold lining the ends of each. But as the Shah looked on, he noticed some of the spikes were jaded and worn. A sign of age? Why would this being neglect something like that? But there was more to it than that.
The being was wearing what seems to be a two piece bikini with gold laced all over the pair underneath a translucent silver robe that reaches the wrists and ankles. As the Shah intimately observed, the robe did nothing to hide the well developed body of the being - even emphasizing his gaze upon her splendid curves.
She is, overall. The perfect woman. Beauty and magnificence radiates throughout her entirety. And the robe is not doing well in hiding the fact.
And as we already know from the title, this being is no other than the goddess Ishtar of Uruk. The Mistress of Heaven. The Goddess of Venus, Love, War, and good harvest.
But there is a twist. For as we know her as the pseudo-servant summoned within the 16 year old vessel by the name of Rin Tohsaka, this woman resembles nothing like the one we have seen in the Babylonia Singularity. No.
This goddess has become much older and probably wiser. She resembles the 20 year old Rin Tohsaka. And since this is Ishtar we are talking about, the vessel has reached the peak womanly maturity we see in the likes of Lancer Artoria (No, I do not mean she has watermelons for a chest.) Whether it be by the process of time and the gradual weakening of magic in the world she's currently in, or a curse placed upon her causing her to age. Either way, she has grown.
"It is rude of you to stare so lustfully upon my body, mortal." Ishtar cheekily said as she glided down from Maana and just a few feet away from the Shah. "But, it's been a while since someone has become awestruck by my stunning self. So, I'll let this slide."
If Ishtar was anyone else, they would've been imprisoned, beheaded, and exiled. (Not specifically in that order). That comment was a disgrace to the Shah's honor, of course. Anyone who understood that the Shah is someone who you don't fuck with would agree to that. But unfortunately for them, Ishtar isn't merely anyone else.
"As the leader of these men and all of Persia. I ask you this. Who are you?" The Shah was undisturbed by the goddess' words and continued to press on the matter at hand. The goddess did not like what she heard, for she said.
"Do not raise your tone like you own the place, mortal!" The blue sky suddenly became covered with thunder clouds and golden lightning came out of them, causing everyone except the Shah to take cover.
"What you say will decide whether or not I will spare you for encroaching upon my City." Ishtar finished as her ruby colored eyes glowed malevolently.
"But is it not you who called for me?" The Shah is powerful, yes. But he is also wise. Whoever this being is, she is clearly leagues above him in strength. So, he acted as humble as he could to spare his and his soldier's lives.
"So, you've finally known your place. Good." The sky became blue and the sun shone once more, "And also, yes. I did call for you."
With a snap of a finger, Maana was summoned in an instant. Causing everyone surrounding the goddess to get out of the way. As Maana lowered down enough for Ishtar to float to it, she said.
"Oh! But first things first." She then looked straight into the Shah's eyes.
"Are you he who they call Khosrau Anushirawan (Immortal Soul)."
At this point, the Shah couldn't be bothered to be surprised. After all the shit he's seen from his 1 year as Emperor, he lost all will to be shocked.
"That I am." Khosrau replied.
"Then meet me with a dozen or so men at my palace. Only there will I explain why you - and I at some point - are here." Ishtar pointed at Gilgamesh's Ziggurat as she spoke.
Maana was revving up to head to the ziggurat when Ishtar remembered one last thing to say to the Shah.
"Oh wait! One last thing." She looked towards all the men in the area.
"Remember this name for I will curse you if you don't. I am Ishtar! Patron Goddess of this great city." She said as she waved her arms in a grand manner,
"Now that I finally said that. I will head to my palace. I expect you," she said pointing at Khosrau, "To listen to what I said and meet me there."
And without a goodbye or farewell, the goddess of Venus sped towards her palace.