"You don't care for master Tokiomi's strategy?" The carefully dressed priest with empty eyes asked the golden plaid heroic spirit who sat on a couch inside the dimly lit earthen room. The priest approached the king of heroes on the couch slowly.
The golden man was slim and yet muscular. He had blonde, gold-like in color, hair, and red, snakelike eyes that stared at the ceiling with an expression of boredom. The golden man's name was Gilgamesh, he was a heroic spirit summoned to battle 6 other heroic spirits, legendary heroic figures from throughout history, and masters for the sake holy grail to grant a wish for the master and servant. It was far more complex than just that, but that was the main idea of the grail war.
Gilgamesh was the most powerful heroic spirit, but his arrogant pride marginally evened the playing field. Next to the couch and even on the floor nearby, the man was full and empty bottles of wine that he had taken from the empty-eyed priest's own collection. The golden man was not in his usual combat attire, casually yet luxuriously dressed as he lied down on the couch. In one hand he held a half-empty glass of wine that was being swirled repetitively.
"Reach the swirl of the Root? A dull goal for a dull man." Gilgamesh said as he stopped twirling his wine. The dead-eyed priest stopped his approach and silently stared at the golden man for a couple of moments with an expressionless face.
"Finding the root is a desire peculiar to mages." The priest paused, and Gilgamesh began to swirl his wine again except now with a small smile on his face. "Those who are not mages shouldn't comment. In a sense, searching for the path to the root is tantamount to searching for the exit to this very world. We who think only of the inside can only perceive it as a foolish endeavor." The dead-eyed priest finished.
"Interesting. But what of you, Kirei?" Gilgamesh's gaze wandered over to the dead-eyed priest. His name was Kotomine Kirei, a man who has not perceived joy who knows that he will only find joy from the suffering of others, he knew it to be completely true the day his wife committed suicide in front of him. Kirei had a handsome face, straight brown hair that was not too short or long, and currently empty brown eyes. He was wearing his priest's outfit, which consistently was colored black or very dark grey. There was also a golden cross necklace that he wore over the outfit, serving as the only color in his clothing.
Gilgamesh sipped his wine before he asked the question, "What would you ask of the grail?" This immediately prompted a response.
"Me? I have no wish for the Grail to grant..." Said Kirei.
"I don't believe that. Does the grail not choose only those worthy of its power?" Gilgamesh stated this as a rhetorical question.
"That was my understanding. I cannot guess why it would have chosen me when I have neither ideals nor desires of my own." Kirei said hesitantly.
"No ideals or desires, you say? Fine then, I shall provide you with a desire that you seek." Gilgamesh stated, causing Kirei's supposed dead eyes to widen in surprise momentarily, before darkening once more.
"Is this desire sinful?" Kirei calmly asked.
"Not in any way. It would be normal and good to pursue this desire, even for you." Gilgamesh blandly stated.
"What exactly is this desire that I would seek?" Kirei asked, if he could have looked at himself, Kirei believed he would have seen his eyes sparkling with hope.
"Youth, any a person will want this, even you. Despite wanting this, they are still free of sin." Kirei's hopes were crushed, he had hoped this person understood him and was able to help him, but now he was questioning such hopes he placed into the man.
"Why would I desire such a thing?" Kirei said, sitting down on a chair next to the couch.
"You intrigue me, there are many reasons to desire such a thing, Kirei. Such as a longing to correct past mistakes when growing up, to live the life you regretted not being able to live." Gilgamesh said as he sat up, summoning a bottle of wine from his noble phantasm, Gate of Babylon. He set the wine bottle on the small coffee table before pulling two golden goblets out from the gate. He filled the two goblets with the wine and slid a goblet over to Kirei.
"Drink, do not let my generosity go to waste as this wine will bring you bliss being of such a high quality." Said Gilgamesh, who promptly drank a good third of his goblet's contents in a single gulp with no intention to stop until the container emptied.
Kirei followed suit drinking the wine, although with much less enthusiasm at first. Raising the wine up and into his mouth, he was immediately struck by the amazing flavor of the drink. It was by far the best wine he had ever tasted. Small sips turned into mouthfuls, and the mouthfuls turned into him chugging the drink. A couple of moments later he found the goblet empty. Eying the droplets at the bottom of the golden container, he almost wanted to try and lick them up. Though, he decided ultimately to preserve his dignity instead.
Kirei placed the goblet down and watched as it disappeared into a golden mist as it was sent back to Gilgamesh's Gate of Babylon.
"The flavor of that drink was like nothing I have experienced before, what is this wine?" Kirei asked thoughtlessly. Gilgamesh beamed with pride.
"It is the finest wine of this world and a one-of-a-kind item from my treasury. It is also mixed with a few drops of another substance to add flavor." Gilgamesh stated. Kirei genuinely smiled.
"Thank you archer, even if this experience was brief, this was the first time I have felt joy from normal means." Kirei let the smile rest on his face as he closed his eyes and basked in his joy. "Perhaps I could use the grail to wish for another bottle of this wine." He said with a chuckle.
"I could just give you some more of it you know?" Said a new voice in Gilgamesh's location, Kirei blinked rapidly and saw that there was now a child that looked exactly like Gilgamesh in his place. The boy loosely fitted into the former's clothes momentarily, and then Kirei watched as the boy grew back into the form of adult Gilgamesh.
"Ignore what my child self said you will not be getting any more wine from my treasury. The only thing that you will have experienced is true joy without sin! You should be honored. Although will you be getting the grail, you have received your wish." Gilgamesh said with a decently hearty laugh. Kirei's eyes widened in fright and distress as he looked down at himself.
None of his clothes seemed to fit him anymore, and his feet were unable to touch the ground while he sat in the chair. If he had to get a rough estimate, he seemed to have the body of his seven-year-old self. "What was in that drink!" Kirei shouted, cringing at his now high-pitched voice.
"A couple of drops from the potion of youth were mixed into that wine. Unlike my master, I can see exactly who you are and I won't trust you for a moment. So, I have decided to take you out of the war." Gilgamesh said with a grin. Kirei seemed not to be comprehending the situation fully, as evidenced by the look in his eyes and posture.
"How did you change back to your adult form?" Kirei asked, trying to find an escape from his current younger body. He could not imagine that this was the wish that he desired.
"Because of the high amount of divinity in my body, I would need a higher dosage for a full transformation back to my youth. However, since you have no divine blood, even the smallest drop of the potion would put you back into your youth until you grow back into an adult by natural aging." Said Gilgamesh with an even wider grin now.
"This can't..." Kirei collapsed to the floor with tears in his eyes, he had so many plans that were now ruined and it had now completely sunk in.
"You should be glad that you are still alive mongrel, I could have easily killed you instead. Also, do not be mad if you see me drinking your wine. It will spoil before you can drink it as you are underage." Gilgamesh said with a hearty and yet mocking laugh as he began to dematerialize, fading into a golden mist.