Chapter 12: Beautiful Calamity

In which an attempt to avoid a catastrophe only makes it worse.


"Are you in love?"

The unexpected question snapped Rider out of thoughts. He was staring blankly at the streets from the stairs, leaning freely against a low stone wall and thinking about nothing in particular after another morning of work. Now his gaze turned to the little intruder, a girl with a thick braid and big, brown eyes.

How old was she? Around ten, maybe? Arjuna sighed internally; he was never good at guessing children's age. He tried to take their words seriously, though. Their innocently blunt observations could be eye-opening sometimes.

So, was he in love?

No, he'd just caught a glimpse of gold in the distance, of that strong, blinding light. When the king was pleased, his city prospered. So why its inhabitants shouldn't feel content?

It was an echo of someone else's emotions, Arjuna told himself. Any Servant would feel like this, if their Master was happy.

"Why do you think I am?"

"Granny told me." The girl climbed to the wall, sat on it clumsily and waved her feet in the air. "Her eyes are getting worse, and she can barely see anything, but she said that you're shining."

Not sure, how to react to such unceremonious answer, Arjuna chuckled.

"Now that's interesting. Did she say anything else?"

The kid nodded vigorously.

"That you should find yourself a good wife." She blushed all of a sudden. Great, he was impressing little girls now. Not that it had never happened before. When he was still alive, girls used to shower him with flower petals from the roofs, when he was simply walking the streets. Rider felt like a local celebrity back then. "Many would like to..."

"To marry a foreigner of low social status?" Arjuna raised an eyebrow. Someone needed a bucked of cold water poured on their head and it was certainly not him. "I doubt that."

"Granny said that you're kind and hard-working. And that is more than enough." She looked away for a moment, flustered, but then clenched her fists in a sudden outburst of childish courage and determination. "I will marry you, when I grow up!"

"Well, that's a..."

Rider needed to discourage her as soon as possible, before it could evolve into serious problems in the future, but he stopped talking, sensing a powerful presence nearby. People on the way were bowing and praising her with respect. Even the little girl slipped off the wall and almost dropped to her knees before a mysterious woman with curly, golden hair. Her divine aura and resemblance to Gilgamesh left no place for doubts about her identity.

"Goddess Ninsun," Rider whispered, bowing deeply before her, like everyone else. She was a motherly figure, a divine protector, a goddess caring for the cattle... and the closest family of his Master. How could he not respect her?

Ninsun eyed him critically, with hands on her hips and an angry frown. Her nose moved slightly, like if she had just stepped into something unpleasant.

"You smell like my son, invader from the other heavens." Mistrust and displeasure in her gaze were more than obvious. "What do you want from him?"

"I wouldn't dare demand anything from the king, I'm just a humble servant," Arjuna politely ensured.

"Hmpf." Although not even half as irritating, the sound seemed too familiar to be ignored. Gilgamesh took after his mother more than he would like to admit, it seemed. "You'll bring him only troubles."

Arjuna wanted to protest, when a dreadful feeling pierced him through like a bolt of lightning. Everything in him screamed 'Master in danger!', so he summoned his battle equipment and ran outside the city gates at full speed to meet the approaching enemy on the open field.

"See?" - Ninsun said in a worried voice, more to helself than to the confused girl standing next to her. "This is exactly what I was talking about."

Ishtar descended from heavens not so far away, humming the melody from that lovely night. She kept floating in the air, tasting this sweet moment, absorbing the energy of the planet and prayers of her people. With no weapons or her flying boat, wearing only usual white robes and golden jewelry, she proceeded towards Uruk, slowly and gracefully. There was no need for haste - awaiting pleasure is a pleasure as well, after all.

A lone bowman stood on the open field not so far from the city gates, unmoved like a stone sculpture, with only his white cloak waving on the wind.

"Greetings, Lady Ishtar, the magnificent and awe-inspiring, the mightiest and most beautiful among goddesses," he said, so politely that for a moment Ishtar was ready to praise Gilgamesh for expecting her arrival and sending a welcoming party. "Your attention is always a blessing, however... this is not the best moment for a visit. Sadly, I need to ask you to not go any further."

"Oh?" She raised an eyebrow, more curious than angry... for now. His words and the entire situation seemed as nonsensical as amusing so far. "Why is that?"

"Because you may cause a dangerous... disturbance in the city I decided to protect."

"That's interesting. You do recognize me and praise me properly, yet do not fall to your knees. And dare to make some preposterous demands." She tilted her head. The smell of this thing was unusual, its aura even more so. "And what if I won't listen to your..." - she smiled mockingly, pure sarcasm and a bit of threat ringed in her voice - "...kind request?"

"I will do everything in my power to stop you, Mistress of Heaven."

Ishtar smiled widely at such bold declaration. She was a goddess of war, after all, and that thing had some potential. What kind of powers it could possess?

"You've got guts to go up against me. Very well, I'll let you entertain me for a while."

With those words, she threw off her white robe and soared even higher, almost naked and incredibly beautiful. Still, she wasn't taking him seriously - the fact that ridiculously long, golden talons were the only part of armor she materialized for this little duel, was enough for a proof of her true intentions.

"Bring it on, shameless goddess. I will not let you pass."

His words drowned in the terrible buzzing of gathered magic. As an entity particularly connected to storms and thunders, Arjuna knew well, how stunning natural catastrophes could be, how much charm could be found in total destruction. Ishtar still managed to exceed his expectations.

Gilgamesh and Enkidu fought like wild beasts, mighty bulls who just lower their heads and charge at the enemy, trusting their strength and believing in sharpness of their horns. Like forces of nature, untamed and extremely dangerous.

This one, however, was a battle of a different kind. The son of the Lord of Heavens challenged the Mistress of Heaven - both were graceful yet deadly, unyielding in their attacks. They were dancing... but also casually throwing at each other energetic missiles that could blast away a small country.

Surprised by her own inability to immediately crush a bug that stood before her, the goddess decided to humiliate Rider instead and reached for the powers of her other domains.

Focus, Arjuna, focus! It's just the charisma of the goddess of love. It affects you this much only because she's in her territory, surrounded by devoted followers...

It didn't sound good at all. But Rider wasn't a mortal anymore and had battled the divine before. All the gods of his time, to be precise, more powerful than local downgraded beings, and survived. Here, in this age, with Gilgamesh as his Master, he was the closest to his original self he could ever be.

The thought of his king helped Arjuna shake off the spell. Gilgamesh used to tank such kind of difficulties like they were nothing, often by willpower alone. This was the least Arjuna could learn from him... or maybe he had borrowed it through their artificially deepened bond?

"Hah! You're distracted!" - Ishtar said, almost cheerfully, pointing at Rider with one of her talons. She was evidently still only playing with him. "See? No man can resist my charms. Such a pity, when I was starting to have fun..."

A ball of pure, condensed energy fired from under her nail. The sound of explosion reached even Uruk, shook its outer walls and made all inhabitants freeze in terror.

There was a cloud of sand and a giant hole in the ground where Rider stood just a moment ago. Ishtar smirked triumphantly, waiting for the veil of dust to fall down, but all her joy vanished almost instantly.

"Is that all you've got?" He was still there, in the centre of the crater, with no visible damage other than a line of blood on his left arm, and with thunders raging in his eyes. Something was waving for a moment behind his back - a banner of sorts? - before it dissolved into the air, disturbed by magical outbursts around. "You should have known better, what those, who belong to heavens, are capable of!"

With such bold words, Arjuna released another arrow, so precise it flew through the ring of Ishtar's bull-shaped earring. If the display from before wasn't enough to piss the goddess off, this insolent provocation certainly was.

"How dare you... a mere male... an outsider! A nobody! How dare you speak to me like that?!"

The eyes of the goddess were shining like two red comets right before exploding. With a tiny gesture, Ishtar tore apart the veil of the skies. Countless stars were shining behind her, when she reached for the primordial cosmic power to smash the fool that dared to stand on her way.

So it really came to this...

There was no way to block this attack, Rider could only respond with something equally strong. He had no idea how to compare Noble Phantasms to weapons used by a divine entity. Arjuna guessed that he will be annihilated. But using his full power against her could be enough to damage the goddess or at least make her forget the purpose of this unexpected visit.

"Expanding sacred domain. Domain secured. Divine punishment enforcement limits... All approved. By the wrath of Shiva..."

Rider's partially activated Noble Phantasm vanished into thin air, when a sharp, painful impulse of magical command cut off all his energy.

"Why are you attacking the patron deity of my city, fool?"

Arjuna almost fell to his knees, paralyzed by Gilgamesh's order to stop the attack. He saw celestial chains flying towards Ishtar. Enkidu did not try to bind or even touch the angry goddess, just distract her enough to stop this madness.

"Please restrain yourself, Lady Ishtar." Enkidu was quite gentle, when dealing with the local pantheon. "The city you claim to protect has no chance to withstand your almighty wrath."

"My wrath is not directed at the city, but at this thing. I demand it to be punished with instant death."

"You have no right to demand it. This Servant is not one of your mortal followers, but my property." The way Gilgamesh said it filled Arjuna with a weird, unrecognizable feeling. He was happy that the king could not see his face at the moment. "It will be punished, if I feel like it. Now... what brings you to Uruk?"

"Ha! As if I ever needed permission to come to my city!" Ishtar crossed her arms and pouted like a capricious little girl. The diversion must have worked, because her bloodlust was already gone, replaced by a different kind of passion. Her reaction to Gilgamesh seemed, indeed, suspicious. "I won't be speaking of important matters here, give me a proper welcome first."

Gilgamesh said nothing, only showed Ishtar the way with an overdramatic gesture and headed back to the city gate. Enkidu gave Arjuna an undefined, yet somehow worried expression, then the two followed the king and the goddess in silence, expecting troubles.