Chapter 6: Pain's an Old Friend

Vale

Gilgamesh sat on the couch lazing around while Lily sat nearby playing a game on the nearby console and television set. Today, he didn't really feel like doing all that much. After taking care of the mongrel that was formerly Cinder Fall, he had to think up his next move, but he had yet to come up with a plan of action. The source of his hesitation was clear: his fear.

Two crushing defeats had left a sour taste in his mouth. The first by the hands of one Kiritsugu Emiya, then by the hands of Shirou Emiya, the Faker. Ever since he had arrived on Remnant, he had said that he would never be caught off guard like he had before. He had the power to change the world as he saw fit yet every time he was close to winning, he would always let his arrogance get to him at the most critical moment and lose everything. Bad luck seemed to follow him like a plague and this time he had to be certain that it would end differently. Thus, he had become more paranoid, keeping everything inside and being less expressive about the world around him. However, by adopting a safer approach to conquering this rock in space, he was also letting fear dictate him to some degree. It was not a pleasant feeling one bit.

As he had been brought low by a magus and his adoptive son, he began to think twice. Granted, the two of them had circumstances and luck on their side, but the situation and the variables at play were irrelevant. The fact of the matter was that he lost to two lesser beings. If he could lose to them, then who was to say that someone else could not take him off guard, however unlikely?

Gilgamesh's consciousness led him to realize where his thoughts were wandering. As swiftly as he was able to, he seized these dark thoughts and swiftly crushed them. The last thing he needed was to second-guess himself. For the time being, the deck was stacked in his favor because he was an unknown in this world. That would work to his advantage and he would need every advantage at his disposal, especially against a population that was more or less used to war and conflict in one manner or another.

Remnant's people were without a doubt quite an interesting breed. While fewer in numbers than on Earth, they made up for the lack of numbers with an overall higher resistance due to spending thousands of years in conflict either with the Grimm or with each other. Aura and magic were used merely as weapons in that ongoing conflict. Their applications ought more versatile and widespread than what was widely-accepted, but in a time of fighting, a lot of luxuries were discarded in favor of effectiveness and efficiency. A shame really, but logical.

That point aside, the next step was to see what further use that magic had besides its combative nature. Simple killing could be done by a warrior without magic. The true nature of this magic had yet to be explored. He didn't know enough about Remnant to come to an accurate conclusion. Since there was no abundance of magic, it was going to be even more time-consuming to find the pieces and put them together in to recreate a coherent picture of history without any biases.

But his lack of anything to show for himself was his fault. Gilgamesh realized that he had not taken much time to fully understand where he was exactly. There were things that were familiar and things that were not. What mattered to him was how he wanted to do things. All he had to do was take the first step forward and soon enough results would start to show. A journey of a thousand miles always began with a single step and he had only taken a few steps on the journey to creating a perfect world.

The King of Heroes propped himself up and got up to look out the window. The city below was so small. He could hold it all in his hands and he could crush it all with one swift stroke, but where was the sport in that? A swift and decisive end would mean no excitement, no joy, and no satisfaction. What was the point of an adventure when there wasn't a sense of enjoyment in it?

Which begged the question: what did he want?

Gilgamesh had been given many things in his life: his kingship, his treasures, his weapons, his luxuries, his divinity, his humanity, everything had been given to him from the moment he came into existence through the minds of the gods. Even before he was conceived in his mother's womb, his fate had already been decided for him. His birth simply was him taking a true physical form in the world. From there, his life was simply handed to him. He couldn't recall a single instance that he wasn't simply given something simply when he demanded for it. A few words from his mouth and he would be granted whatever he wished. Was there ever a time that he truly worked for something?

A disturbance caused him to casually turn his head to watch Lily shout out in frustration at having lost her game. She began to fumble with her controller and restart the level once more, this time with a new determination in her eyes.

Seeing her face and its uncanny resemblance to Enkidu brought the most precious memories of his life to the forefront of his thoughts. In many ways, Gilgamesh recalled that his life didn't change that drastically with his best friend by his side. What did change was how he approached what he did. Where he was once alone, he now had someone to lean on, someone that he trusted and valued highly. That made his life far more tolerable and at times, even happy. Humans were always saying that being with a friend made any activity, exciting or mundane, enjoyable and until Enkidu came into his life, the King of Heroes could only understand the logic behind it, not the emotions.

Lily would never be Enkidu, there was no changing that fact, but he had chosen to give her his name and his protection merely because she shared a face with the only being he had come to treasure. Perhaps somewhere deep inside, he was hoping that through his own hard work, he would be able to create a new friend, someone would could match him by strength and intelligence, but was such a thing possible? Could he make something mortal into something closer to his existence?

Gilgamesh was unsure about what Lily meant to him; all he could say with certainty was that he wanted to make something out of her. One day, she might very well turn against him and strangely enough, he wasn't bothered by this concept. All he could ever hope for was that if she was to leave his side, she would be powerful enough to destroy this world just like was able to. Then he could be satisfied with being in this world.

Molding a child into the ultimate warrior had with it strengths and weaknesses. Since children's minds were more susceptible to indoctrination, it would be much easier to convince the green-haired girl that all of this was for the sake of a grand plan, something truly spectacular and important. She would dedicate everything she had to being the best at killing other people and for all intents and purposes, that was the primary goal. However, if all she knew what to do was kill, then she would never reach her full potential. Supplementing the ability to take a life with other skills would make for more varied outcomes.

Gilgamesh's ability to combine the wisdom of the gods and the wisdom of mankind would give him the ability to predict what would result should he choose to train his first and only protege in a certain way. These predictions were all possibilities, but not all were certainties. If he could predict everything that would happen in his life, then meeting Enkidu would have been far less interesting and their friendship would never have existed in the first place. Maybe this was a sign to abandon either his wisdom from the gods or his wisdom of mankind in order to fully focus on one so as not to only see the big picture and completely miss out on the finer details.

The former ruler of Uruk leaned against the glass window overlooking Vale City. It was an impressive sight, no arguing that, but it would be so easy to take it all down. All he would have to do is open the Gate of Babylon and rain down hell upon everyone. Truly, he could take down most of the people in this city without breaking a sweat. Any huntsmen sent out to fight him would be lucky to last half a minute with him in combat.

Gilgamesh glanced out the window. Something then crossed his, a loose end that he ought to tie up.

Fate/Stay Night - - - RWBY

Emerald had been pacing back and forth for gods knew how long. At this rate, she would be creating a ditch in the floor at this rate. Mercury sat nearby, watching her with a look of irritation. He was willing to put up with it for a bit, but this was just too much. He needed something else to look at.

"Will you cut it out!?" Mercury finally called her out. "You're gonna give me a headache at this rate!"

"Shut up!" Emerald hissed back, finally stopping. "I'm fine!"

"You could've fooled me." Mercury gave her an unconvinced look. "You've been wearing a path on the floor for twenty minutes."

"Cinder should've been back a long time ago." Emerald explained her source of anxiety. "I don't understand why she hasn't come back."

"You worry too much about her." Mercury dismissed his partner's claims. "She can take care of herself and she 's not stupid."

"You didn't see her when she left last night." Emerald wasn't the least bit comforted. "Cinder, she looked absolutely livid."

"Angry?" Mercury's face looked curious now. "There aren't many things that make her like that… unless…"

"Exactly." Emerald resumed her pacing.

No matter how much the two of them talked about it, they couldn't do a thing about it. Their boss effectively held their leashes and there wasn't a thing they could do about it. She would come back and either choose to fill them in on the details or say nothing at all. That was within her discretion as the lady in charge. The two of them were here to help her and do whatever she needed.

Although Cinder was mysterious and talked very little about herself, from what they could glean about her, it was clear that she always wanted things to go the way she planned. When things didn't go exactly as planned, she was always irritable. The amount of negativity ranged from mere annoyance to outright fury, but Emerald and Mercury always did their best to stay on her good if for no other reason than to make sure they remained in one piece. All of this was before the black-haired woman had gained the power of the Fall Maiden. Now that she did have that power, she was even more terrifying.

"Let's just hope that whatever business she needed to attend to went well." Mercury leaned back into his chair. "And we don't ask about it."

"Why do think I've been pacing?" Emerald sighed.

"So you were anxious." Mercury deadpanned.

"Can you just shut up?" Emerald glared at him.

"I could, but then what would you do with the silence?" Mercury closed his eyes and crossed his arms.

"I would prefer you to keep your mouth closed forever." Emerald snarked. "Then I could hear myself thinking."

"The King of Uruk demands that both of you remain silent for all eternity." A new voice cut into their conversation. "Hearing you two mongrels speak is grating on my ears."

Both of Cinder's associates instantly moved into their stances for combat. They knew that voice. How could they forget the one person that had managed to set off their boss in such a primal way?

"You!" Emerald was quick to go on the offense without a thought.

However, before she could reach striking distance, chains suddenly appeared from those glowing gold portals, wrapping themselves around her arms and legs, effectively preventing her from moving any further. Any attempt to move resulted in the chains holding her down tightening, putting a strain on her aura.

"Are you going to be as idiotic as your friend here?" The golden-haired man turned his head to Mercury. "Or will you do the intelligent thing by heeding the words of the King of Heroes?"

"...what do you want?" Mercury held his stance, but he clearly wasn't about to attack recklessly.

"Don't listen to this bastard!" Emerald cried out while still struggling. "When Cinder gets back, you'll be in for it!"

The blond raised a hand and slapped her hard enough to chip away at her aura. "My name is Gilgamesh. If you are to speak to me, you will address me as such, cur. Disrespect me again at your own peril."

Mercury had circled around just enough to see Emerald's expression morph from pure defiance to a look of uncertainty and fear. It was the first time he had seen such a face on the dark-skinned girl and that scared him.

"As for you." Gilgamesh pointed to the gray-haired boy. "Remain where you are lest you wish to be killed. I will not warn you again."

Mercury's defiant spirit told him to not give in to such words, but his instinct told him that this guy was clearly stronger than both of them combined. Without a clear knowledge of their opponent's true strength and given his power that they had seen, they were in no position to be doing anything. Carefully, he eased on his stand, but remained at least somewhat alert. His choice didn't seem to bother their guest.

"What do you want?" Mercury posed his question again. "Why are you here?"

"That depends on how you two respond to what I have to say." Gilgamesh smirked at the two of them. "Cinder Fall is dead."

For a moment, neither of the two teenagers knew what to say. If this was a trick to lower their guard, then it wasn't a very good one, but from the way he spoke, arrogant and self-assured, they couldn't help but believe that there was something to it. Whatever he was playing at, he had their attention now.

"No." Emerald seemed to resist the very notion. "It's not possible."

"But it is possible." Gilgamesh grabbed her chin, forcing her to look him in the eye. "I made it so."

"I don't believe it." Emerald's voice became more staccato. "You're lying!"

"You would dare call me a liar?" Gilgamesh stepped back, then delivered a solid right hook to her face, enough to completely shatter her aura and actually leave a bruise. "You ungrateful, annoying, spiteful bitch!"

Mercury felt glued to the ground, unable to do anything or say a word. His mind was running through his options now. If what this man said was the truth, then technically speaking, they were both free to go where they wished and do as they pleased. That was a pleasant feeling, but it lasted for all of the blink of an eye. Next came the realization that being in this situation meant they would never get that freedom. Perhaps they were about to trade in one master for another and this was far more powerful than the other one.

"But since your dull minds are unable to process the truth, I am left with no choice but to provide physical proof." Gilgamesh reached into one of his portals and grabbed something. "Perhaps this will clear you of any doubt."

Once they both saw what was in his hand, they instantly turned pale. They knew Cinder's weapons well. They had seen her in action enough times to be able to recognize the blades by sight alone. She wielded those blades as an extension of herself, so there was no way she would willingly part with them in any way.

"Those… those could be a copy!" Now Emerald sounded desperate. "You must've coped them!"

"Still ignorant to the end." Gilgamesh once again delivered a solid punch to Emerald. "I should have your head for your insolence."

The mint-haired fighter was now bleeding in addition to her mind being a complete mess. Her companion just watched with his fists curling and uncurling. He was literally at the mercy of this megalomaniac and there was nothing he could do to stop it, not a gods-damned thing. This was a real low point in his life. At least with his abusive father, he could hit back however pointless it was.

"But I am feeling generous today." Gilgamesh once again reached into the portal. "If this will not convince you, then I am not certain what will."

There was a blur as a large object tumbled to the ground from the hold in the air. It took a moment for the two of them to realize that this wasn't just any normal thing. It was a body, which wasn't surprising in and of itself. Both of them had killed before. Rather, it was the identity of the body that had them both wide-eyed.

"Cinder!" Emerald screeched. "CINDER!"

"What the fuck?" Mercury breathlessly said.

"Now do you worthless mutts understand?" Gilgamesh kicked the body to show that she was no longer alive. "Your master is dead. What will you do now?"

Emerald seemed to have lost any and all will to fight, resorting to sobs and wails. Mercury, on the other hand, had two options. He could either kneel to this guy or run for his life and hope to live another day.

"No, that was not my intended question." Gilgamesh turned to Mercury. "My question is this: how do you wish to die? In combat, or on your knees?"

The assassin's combat instincts took over the moment the very idea of death came to mind. He wouldn't dare to fight someone who could clearly wipe the floor with him, so he ran as fast as his prosthetics would let him.

Only, he didn't make it that far. He felt something piercing him from behind, and then he felt nothing at all.

RWBY - - - Fate/Stay Night

Gilgamesh watched as the body collapsed to the ground. The fool had believed himself to be swift enough to evade death. It was pathetic and cowardly. There were those that had been less powerful than himself, yet they stood their ground against him.

And speaking of such individuals, there still remained one more to take care of. This girl, the one with mint-green hair. She was clearly loyal and dedicated to Cinder. It showed in how she continued to refuse undeniable proof of her master's death. Now, she was little more than a sobbing mess, calling out for someone, anyone to save her.

"What about you?" Gilgamesh grasped her jaw and made her look him in the eye. "Are you prepared to die?"

"Just… kill… me." Emerald murmured barely above a whisper. "There's… nothing left… for me."

"You wish to die?" Gilgamesh frowned at her words. "What a spineless girl, losing any sense of pride the moment the one you dedicate yourself to has died."

He slapped her this time, refraining from punching so as to prevent further damage that might kill her. Clearly, he had underestimated the overzealousness of this one. She wasn't just loyal to Cinder Fall. This was was blindly loyal, never questioning, never second-guessing, and never complaining. It was not even five minutes ago that she was being stubborn and willful. To see this sudden change was simply boring.

"Are you so unable to develop your own sense of identity that you need someone to hold you to a chain?" Gilgamesh taunted her with a sharp edge in his tone. "And after everything I've done here. You should be thankful. You're free."

The girl appeared to still hold onto her desire to die. Whatever words he had to say would go through one ear and out the other. Any further efforts would be wasted on her.

"So be it." Gilgamesh turned his back. "If you wish to die, then have at it for all I care. However, I will not be giving you that satisfaction. That honor will go to the one who killed Cinder Fall."

"What?" Emerald's mind was barely able to comprehend what she just heard. "What do you… mean?"

"I am merely the messenger." Gilgamesh announced. "I am not the one who killed her. Only my newest protege can take credit for that kill."

From the shadows, Lily stepped forward, her face more confident than when he had forced her to kill for the first time. However, there remained traces of hesitance in her posture and in her step.

"Dispose of this waste of life." Gilgamesh ordered the little faunus girl. "If you have any last words, mongrel, now would be the time to speak."

Slowly and deliberately, the King of Heroes slowed his pace and kept his eyes listening. He wanted to be sure that the deed was done and he wanted to know how fast his will would be carried out.

"You?" Emerald's voice echoed. "You killed Cinder?"

"Yes." Lily admitted to the truth. "I'm sorry, but she would've killed me simply because I was given half the Maiden's power."

"You killed her?"

"So… I'm sorry." Lily sighed. "Please forgive me."

The power of the Fall Maiden flared up.

Fate/Stay Night - - - RWBY

Normally, at this time of night, children were put to bed and were asleep, but Lily was well aware that her life had long since discarded widely accepted routines. Even if she wasn't old enough to understand everything about the world and about herself, she knew that she was living a life few would ever have.

Tonight, her big brother had informed her that instead of combat training, she would be learning how to fly using her powers. Until he had brought up that point, it never occured to the little girl that she was capable of flight and now that she was aware that she had the potential, she couldn't help but let her excitement show. This was far more pleasant to do than to kill people at any rate.

It was hard to believe that she had killed already. In all her time as a thief, she had never resorted to killing even once even though she knew that it was a possibility. Then again, she had never met anyone who wanted her dead, so in that regard, she felt that what she did wasn't really wrong. It was self-defense, at least for the first time. The second one she could not say was so clear-cut, but at least the girl with the similar hair color couldn't come after her now. It was over for now, she hoped.

"Flying requires that you abandon all the knowledge about your body and allow yourself to go free." Gilgamesh spoke to her.

"I don't understand." Lily didn't much care for his fancy talk.

"Basically, you need to forget about using your legs and arms." Gilgamesh reconfigured his words. "Let your power do the work for you."

"Okay." This was a more palatable explanation for her to take in. "I get it… I think."

"Whether you do or not, experience will trump all other forms of learning." Gilgamesh activated his magic. "Now watch me and you will see."

There were a great many things that Lily did not understand about her guardian, his full power being chief among those unknowns. He seemed to be able to do anything and everything without fail. It was almost like he was far greater than even huntsmen and huntresses and they were considered something more than just ordinary people. If she had to describe him to the best of her ability, she would say that he was a god of sorts. However, she had never known a god in person, only what storybooks and other people said. The most commonly-accepted deities on Remnant were the brother gods, but nobody could prove they existed.

Watching Gilgamesh call upon one of his treasures to assist him in flight made her stare up at him with absolute wonder and amazement. His execution of his magic was flawless and without any strain. He had said that one day, provided she followed him carefully, she would be able to do the things that he could do. That was why she paid attention and rarely interjected at times like these. He was superior to her and she would need to be very attentive to his every action, his every word and his every action.

"Flight should be done without pause." Gilgamesh said from his elevated height. "Do not think about your fears nor about failure. Just let yourself go."

To not be afraid of something she had never done was tricky to say the least. While the idea of flying by itself was very appealing, there came with it many reasons to be afraid. What would it be like? How was she to conceptualize doing it? Would she be good at it? Was she going to just be good at it or would she need hard work and time?

"How do I let go?" Lily had to ask. "What does that mean?"

"I have given you what you need." Gilgamesh crossed his arms. "The rest is up to you, girl."

Of course he would be giving no further assistance, but this was not unexpected. He had a habit of never giving her too much. In the end, she would always have to work for what she had. The only reason she could learn to live with this was due to her own self-sufficient way of life prior to her fated encounter with him. The difference was that he was decidedly more harsh with her.

With a big sigh, Lily tried her hardest to formulate a vision of how she believed that flying out to happen with her. The first thing that came to mind were flying birds. Their bodies were straight and their wings were outward as far as they could extend. Where the head was pointed was usually where the flying intended to go.

With her point of reference established, she began to imagine what would happen if she could do the same. At first, her first picture was imperfect. She envisioned herself soaring through the skies, moving parallel to the ground, her arms extended as far as she could reach, her head up and creating the path forward. It was awkward imagining herself in such a position, so she tried to think of a posture that would make more sense for her build. Simply standing in midair didn't seem to register in her mind either.

What Lily failed to realize as she attempted many times to find the ideal way for her to appear while in flight, the Fall Maiden powers were already working and she had begun to float in midair. She was not aware of this as her mind was too preoccupied with her thoughts. With her eyes closed and her body relax, albeit unconsciously, she elevated further into the sky. Perhaps she would have soared into the sky further had she not bumped into Gilgamesh, who held a hand out to stop her from going further.

"I said fly." Gilgamesh reiterated with an amused look. "I did not say to leave this world."

"Huh?" Lily finally opened her eyes. "What? I'm flying?! I'm flying! I'm flying!"

"Yes, you are." Gilgamesh repeated what she said. "Now be silent."

"Sorry." Lily calmed down. "But I'm flying!"

"It's a start, girl." Gilgamesh commented. "Now you start doing more technical maneuvers."

"Huh?"

"Follow my lead."

With that, he began to execute a series of moves in-flight that looked like only an expert would be able to do. Flying fast in one direction, changing directions on a time, evading, twisting, turning, it was like watching a true master of flight, which he probably was without a doubt.

Can I really do that? Lily felt herself grow weak at the knees. I just learned how to get off the ground.

That bit of fear suddenly manifested in her flying as she lost her balance and began to descend out of control.

"Control your fears." Gilgamesh advised. "They do you no good."

"I'm not afraid!" Lily maintained, although her body was now flailing around. "I can AAAHHH!"

She was fooling no one with her words. Now she had all but lost control of her flight path. All she was doing now was making herself look like a complete fool. Of course that was the last thing on her mind as she struggled in vain to level herself out. Thankfully, with the cover of night and being far away from a very populous area of the city, there was little chance that anyone would be anyone to see them.

Gilgamesh decided to take matters into his hands by grabbing her by the neck and making her face him in full. "Are you deliberately trying to provoke me?"

"No, brother." Lily could feel his grip, but she wasn't lacking for breathing room. "I was just-"

"Then cease your bumbling." He had the most serious expression that she had ever seen. "Fly like your life depends on it."

He unceremoniously dropped her and she had a momentary lapse before she regained her bearings. Not willing to incur any further disfavor from the King of Heroes, the faunus girl forced herself to calm down. She thought of all the times that she was starving for food and had to focus her vision so much that the only thing on her mind was food. Now all she needed to do was channel that same method into flying.

A feeling of vertigo swept over her, lasting for all of a microsecond, then her powers once again kicked in and she opened her eyes, watching the ground growing farther away from her. This time, instead of fear gripping her heart, her excitement she began with came back to her. Her face transformed into a full smile.

"I can do this." Lily chanted to herself. "I can do this."

Her feelings took over any sense of caution as she suddenly felt compelled to be daring. She moved her body in one way, then directed her powers to her palms and propelled herself forward.

Lily inhaled deeply. "I can do this."

No matter how much she said it to herself, being in the moment was unlike anything she had ever experienced.

Among all the stories I've written, this is the most violent and questionable of them all, but when my protagonist is Gilgamesh, I really don't expect anything less. He isn't above anything so long as it will get him what he wants or what he needs. That's his only bottom line and that can make for some very interesting yet disturbing scenes.

Admittedly, I've been stalling on this story partially because I'm waiting for V7 to begin so I can pull whatever information I can from it. If there's one thing that RWBY is good at its introducing new and interest concepts, characters, and settings. The problem is that the show has never really been able to explore and evolve anything it does (only a handful of characters get meaningful arcs). That's the primary reason I watch RWBY now, the second being my little ember of hope that things will turn out better down the road.

Reviews would be greatly appreciated. Apologies for the grammar in this chapter. I edited haphazardly so I expect mistakes. I just wanted to get this out ASAP because it was overdue for an update.

Thanks for reading and I hope you all enjoyed.

"It does not matter how slowly you go so long as you do not stop."

Confucious