Chapter 7: I've Got Nothing

Vale

Gilgamesh finally admitted it to himself.

He had no idea what the hell he was actually doing.

For one thing, being on this planet wasn't his idea to begin with, but then again, he didn't ask to be summoned into the Holy Grail War. Those things were just decided against his will. That was one more thing that fate had in store for him that he was unable to control despite all of the power he had.

Was he a ruler or was he a subject?

His position as the King of Uruk would tell him one thing, but his ultimate fate would tell him something else.

Gilgamesh threw a side glance at Lily, who was occupied with a daytime television program. He didn't know what she watched nor did he care. There was nothing that primitive human entertainment could show her that would be more horrifying than what he would show her and that wasn't boasting.

He had meant to take her out for training, but today, he just didn't feel like doing anything. All he could think to do was sit on the couch and stare out the window of the apartment, thinking about one question.

What now?

The King of Heroes had acquired the power of the Fall Maiden and it was well within his ability to seize the Relic of Choice from Beacon Academy. Killing all the Maidens and seizing their powers as well as the correlating relics was well within the realm of possibility. In reality, he didn't foresee anyone on this planet being able to stop him, even with the power of aura.

"I meander in thought constantly." The golden-haired man growled quietly. "I am once again close to remaking a world that I desire, yet here I am, making excuses for myself. This is madness."

Perhaps the very fact that he was making no moves towards reshaping Remnant was proof enough that this desire of his to form and mold Mankind was not all that it was choked up to be.

As a matter of fact, was it not his destiny bestowed upon him by the gods that he be the conduit between heaven and earth?

To be Mankind's king?

If that was so, what did he stand to gain from all of this?

He had already ruled the world once and he had done the best that he could given the cards he could play and he had died as all humans did eventually. His resurrection and his decision to destroy the world and remake it anew was expected of him and he simply took to it like a fish to water.

Here though?

There was nobody to tell him what to do, no gods to hold his strings, no duty to uphold, nothing at all but his knowledge, his weapons, and his power. That didn't sit well with him either. He longed for a purpose, a reason to exist. He could not just sit and brood about his future prospects. That was not how he functioned.

But what would he do?

What could he do?

What should he do?

For all of his wisdom and knowledge, none of it seemed to be able to help him navigate the most difficult enemy he had ever encountered: life itself.

Gilgamesh laid back, his eyes staring at the ceiling with all the boredom that he could muster. He wasn't in the mood for good food. He wasn't in the mood to kill anyone. He wasn't in the mood for sex. He wasn't in the mood to use his powers. He wasn't in any mood to create more plans. Hell, he wasn't in the mood for anything.

At this point, anything at all would be better than what he was doing right now. Maybe all this planning and scheming to conquer this world might not be so interesting after all. When was the last time he had taken a step back and simply basdked in the sights and sounds? True, there was little that he was unaware of in regards to Mankind, but this was a new world teeming with new possibilities. Surely, there were some mysteries that ought to be discovered that might provide him with the motivation that he needed.

The King of Heroes recalled the conversation he held with Rider and Saber in the Fourth Holy Grail War. At the time, he had dismissed the entire discussion to be moot. All treasures existed for the purpose of becoming his. There was no greater reason to have the Holy Grail other than it was a treasure which belonged to him. For that reason alone, no other being could have it other than himself and those that swore fealty to him for all treasures were his to use at his discretion. He did not desire its power to grant wishes; wishes were for the weak and cowardly. He had the power to do whatever he pleased even without the grail.

But this world?

He was able to make perfect predictions with his powers. He would certainly be able to rule this world, even with the powers at play. He should take this world and remold it. This place was rough around the edges, but given time, it could become a society worthy of his divinity, worthy of his admiration, and worthy of his name. It would be easy to do given the state of things.

Gilgamesh held his hand in front of him, imagining himself holding the soul of Remnant in his grasp as he squeezed on it. He could hear the cries of the people begging him to save him from their own pain. He could see the looks of worship etched on the faces of men, women, and children. He could feel their emotions as he graced them all with his presence. He could see it all even now, an ultimate world crafted into his ultimate vision, something free from the chains of his existence on Earth.

Then he clenched his outstretched hand into a fist, feeling rising anger. If he became a ruler once more, than he would be right back where he started, a lone man sitting atop a throne in utter boredom waiting for the next event in life that would reshape his world view. Only once had it happened and the chances of it happening again were close to zero.

As much as he couldn't shake the desire to make waves, a piece of his own wisdom came back to him, a simple little thing he had was aware of for most of his life, yet he cared not for its meaning until recently. His unending quest for power could be summed up in one word.

Insanity.

The former heroic spirit mentally spit at himself. He was supposed to be the king of his own fate, but no matter what he did, it always came back to everything that he knew and how it continuously compelled him to take action in order to correct the path of Mankind. He could ignore this unshakeable duty all he wished, but sooner or later, fate would come back and convince him some other way that his solution was the only solution.

That too was insanity.

The King of Heroes bore the title of the first and most famous of all heroes. His legend was the one that many emulated and faked. For that reason alone, he had to preserve his pride and dignity. No one but him could be the best, the most powerful, the most intelligent, the most good-looking, the ideal that everyone strived for but none could achieve. He had to be all these things in order for the people to have something to look up to in the future. Without his existence, Mankind would never be able to achieve anything truly meaningful in the future. If not for him, Humanity wouldn't be what it was now.

But it was nothing more than insanity.

Gilgamesh rose from his reclined position and stood up perfectly straight. Where he intended to go, he could not say, only that he ought to hurry up and find something to fuel his imagination, which disgusted him to no end. To be stuck like this without purpose, without reason, without meaning, it make him sick.

"Girl, we are leaving." His voice commanded his servant.

"Okay." Lily didn't even hesitate to obey. "Where are we going?"

"Our destination is unclear, but that is not a concern."

"Okay!"

That face which looked so familiar to him smiled, yet the expression was also haunting to him as well. It looked exactly like the one the Enkidu would show him and it was the one thing that he could never see again, the thing he wanted to see the most.

If he had to choose between all the treasures in the Gate of Babylon and Enkidu, his one true friend for life, there would be no question in his mind as to which he would choose in the end.

The former King of Uruk didn't let any of this show as he merely left the residency with his newest pet in tow.

He had no idea what the hell he was actually doing.

But pretending was better.

Fate/Stay Night - - - RWBY

Roman Torchwick was not sure how he ought to be feeling right now.

For one thing, that bitch Cinder Fall had gone silent ever since he was on the receiving end of her wrath. While he wasn't complaining about the silence between them, he didn't like that he didn't even hear so much as a whisper. He wasn't sure if this was due to the fact that she was busy or that she was merely playing hard to get so she could hold it over him later. Either way, he was on his guard.

The other thing that was really grinding his gears was how he had misplaced his scroll. That thing had a lot of important stuff on it. Granted, there wasn't anything terribly compromising; he would have been a complete fool to have stored critical data on a device which could be separated from him at any time. It's just that he never expected that he would get stolen from. He was a master thief after all, so to know that there was someone out there with skills comparable to his own made him uneasy.

While losing that scroll came with it a significant cost, he could recover with enough time and a few more jobs. He would have to be more careful from now on, but with the way things were going, that seemed about right.

Neo, for the most part, stuck to business as usual. She did what he asked her and didn't ask questions in return. She knew the gist of what was going on in regards to his business, but she had yet to know the details and until he knew for sure what he was getting himself into with this whole Cinder thing, he would keep things looking like normal for the time being. It was a good thing that his most helpful minion wasn't all that nosy.

Roman stared at the map of the City of Vale. Right now, he had a lot of planning to do in conjunction with planning the theft of dust. His newest customer seemed intent on stealing as much dust as possible for brothers knew what reason. He couldn't quite comprehend why someone needed so much dust. The only thing that came to mind was either to deprive an enemy of resources or to arm oneself with a seemingly never-ending supply of dust. Either choice led him to the same conclusion: this bitch was going to war.

But the only people worth picking a fight over would be either the Council of Vale or Beacon Academy and neither choice seemed all that appealing to him. Both involved fighting. While the latter had superior training and power on their side, the former made up with sheer numbers and the latest weaponry that money could buy. Frankly, there didn't seem to be a point to getting into a scuffle with either the government or the academy.

The master thief would have to find out the finer details once he saw her again and he loathed the notion of talking to her. No matter how drop dead-gorgeous she was, her attitude just made it all go down the drain, which was a real shame. If she wasn't his business partner, he would have tried his luck, but he had a feeling that her standards were either too high or she simply thought that all men were out of her league.

Whatever, there were plenty of fish in the sea for him to get laid with. Beauty wasn't exactly a rare commodity to begin with.

Roman took a long drag from his cigarette, then puffed it out, contemplating his next move. Without any word from his client, he was either going to get to work on his job or put it on the backburner. Whatever choice he made, he was standing to lose a lot, so he needed to be sure that he was ready to face the worst consequences possible.

For now, he needed to scope out all the places that he knew of which housed dust. From shops to warehouses to SDC facilities. That should serve as a decent starting point and it would prove that he wasn't merely sitting on his hands while he waited. He was many things, but he was most certainly not lazy.

Grabbing his cane and holding his cigarette in his mouth, he moved to the exit. As he left, he quickly grabbed his newest scroll and quickly looked at the screen to see if there were any new texts or messages.

There was one alert.

It was from his old number.

Roman quickly opened the message, but it was a simple message comprised of two sentences that clearly conveyed its meaning.

Cinder Fall is no longer your concern. Consider your obligations to her terminated and expect to hear back soon.

For a moment, he was tempted to answer back, but he stopped his hands from doing anything too quickly and carefully thought this over. It would be one thing if this message came from an unknown scroll, but the fact that it came from his old scroll and the fact that this message somehow got to his new scroll couldn't be a coincidence. Whoever had taken his scroll knew who he was and knew of Cinder.

Roman frowned at this realization. While he was indeed a well-known criminal in Vale, the fact that someone had found him so easily made him more than slightly nervous. The whole reason he was able to keep doing his job was because he prided himself on being three steps ahead of the police. If someone outside of Vale's official law force could find him, then he needed to revisit his old protocols and consider adding new points and he needed to do it fast or his next job could be his last one.

Neo would need to be informed about these changes as well. She was his most trusted asset after all and her cooperation depended upon his transparency in matter relating to the jobs he assigned to her. Actually, she was his only permanent employee to begin with. If he needed additional muscle, he paid Junior in exchange for some of his goons. Whatever, getting back on track, he needed to talk to her.

The orange-haired man decided that right now, he couldn't deal with people that he couldn't even see. The only thing he needed to be doing was taking care of whatever was within his reach. He could worry about phantoms and ghosts later.

But before he reached the door, which was on the far side of the safehouse, he was stopped by two figures.

The one closest to him was a little girl, six years old he guessed. She had lime-green hair and eyes. Additionally, she had faunus ears. The man standing directly behind her looked to be in his late teen years. He had gold hair and blood red eyes.

Roman felt something in his blood. He couldn't logically explain what he was feeling, but he knew somewhere that these two were dangerous somehow. The fact that the child was looking at him wonderment and the teenager eyed him with indifference spoke volumes about how unafraid they were of him.

That made him just a little bit more unnerved.

But he wouldn't let any of this show on his face. He would play it cool like he always did. In his line of work, a bit of fear was to be expected. Life wasn't the same without a little bit of an edge to make things more exciting.

"Present your false bravado if it eases your mind." The golden-haired one spoke first. "But you will find me not intimidated."

"Yeah, what he said." The lime-haired girl chimed in.

Okay, so maybe things weren't going to be so easy, but he still had to at least pretend that he had a semblance of control. His pride wouldn't let him go down instantly like this.

"It's not easy to find me." Roman decided on a more casual approach. "I am the best thief in Vale."

"If this is your best, that you failed to make an impression." Goldy snorted in contempt. "I've seen better."

"I'm better!" Green eyes raised her hand. "I stole your scroll!"

Roman felt himself do a double take. The fact that the pieces were only now coming together made him hit his head against a mental wall. These two had to be the one behind the message he just received.

"Didn't your message say you would be in contact soon?" The thief attempted to find clarification.

"Soon is whenever I wish it to be." Red eyes narrowed. "And you will address me as Gilgamesh. Now then, with Cinder being disposed of, you have free time on your hands, so let us talk business."

Somehow, this felt like a far worse deal than the previous one. In fact, this would probably get him killed., but that was hardly a new thing. He seemed to have this nasty habit of attracting the worst kind of attention.

RWBY - - - Fate/Stay Night

Lily watched with fascination as this 'talk' began. It was made clear to her from the start that at the end of the day, this would be a pedestrian affair. The man with the hair that was the color of carrots would give them exactly what they wanted.

Her only job was to 'watch and learn,' but she had no idea what that meant. She wasn't sure if she was going to understand anything, but she would do her best. After all, she was expected to pick things up quickly.

The green-haired faunus girl sat in a chair nearby while her guardian their newest 'client' sat face-to-face at a table.

"What exactly was the job that Cinder Fall requested of you?" Gilgamesh started off with a question. "Spare no details."

"She didn't tell me all that much to be honest." The man named Roman smoked a cigar while talking. "She just gave me one order: steal as much dust from Vale as possible. She didn't explain any more."

"She was reaching for power that she could not hope to grasp." Gilgamesh already knew what to say. "And now she is dead. The hubris of those who are arrogant enough to think that power exists solely for their own use."

"Um, yeah, right. You said it." Roman appeared to want to say something else. "In any case, what exactly are you asking me to do? Details would be nice."

"I will provide the specifics, but I make no promises as to how you respond." Gilgamesh leaned forward. "There is something at Beacon Academy that I want. You will steal it for me."

"Beacon Academy?" Roman pointed in the direction of the famous school. "You want me to steal something from old man Ozpin?"

"Is there a problem?" Gilgamesh narrowed his eyes.

"Well, in case you didn't know, that place is surrounded by huntsman and huntresses not to mention dozens of brats who aren't exactly all pushovers."

"I do not expect you to fight them all." Gilgamesh laughed lightly. "You do not possess the combat capabilities. Did I not say that you will steal something?"

"And in most cases, that would be fine with me." Roman looked strained. "But it's not going to be as simple as you make it out to be."

"You are called a master thief in the underworld of Vale." Gilgamesh crossed his arms in scrutinization. "Perhaps your reputations was over exaggerated."

"Hey, I'm the best damn thief in this kingdom, there's no arguing with that." Roman was quick to defend his actions. "But there are just some bets that you don't take no matter how skilled you are at something. Once you think you can take on the world, the world always finds a way to prove you wrong."

"Are you certain that nothing could motivate you?" Gilgamesh was pushing harder now. "Nothing at all?"

"The ONLY thing more important to me than lien and stealing expensive and/or useful stuff is my own life." Roman pointed to himself. "But that should be a given for everyone. Everyone can claim how noble and just they are, but at the end of the day, we're all in it for ourselves."

"As it should be." Gilgamesh smirked at this point. "Anyone without a shred of selfishness cannot claim to be alive."

Lily wasn't all that knowledgeable when it came to adult stuff. It just seemed like a lot of nonsense half the time. It seemed like people loved to make things complicated for reasons beyond her understanding, but she could perfectly understand what it meant to be selfish. If not for her being selfish, she wouldn't be alive and she valued her life. Yes, she had stolen from many people before, taken from a great many, but it was justifiable in her eyes. They had food, water, clothes, and a roof over their heads.

And she didn't.

Taking from those more fortunate than herself wasn't the end of the world. In fact, Gilgamesh seemed indifferent to the fact that she had stolen from others. He took plenty from others and he didn't care about the consequences that befell those that he took from. His goals were the only ones worth serving. He had said that many times before and while she understood this to an extent, something in her wasn't sure. She couldn't pin down the exact feeling of hesitation though.

"Look, I don't know what sorts of treasures you're looking for at Beacon, but I can assure you that it's not worth as much as you think." Roman appeared insistent on not doing this job. "I'm good at fighting, but I'm not immune to sheer numbers."

"Did you not hear me?" Gilgamesh was getting impatient. "I said lien and I can afford to give you any price you name?"

"Any price I name?" Roman puffed on his cigar. "Do you realize what you're doing when you're offering something so open-ended?"

"Your price could be worth the entirety of the Schnee Dust Company and I would be able to pay it and not break a sweat." Gilgamesh boasted. "What more do you need to hear?"

Reaching into the golden portals that was the Gate of Babylon, the blonde king reached inside and pulled out not a stack of lien but a few bars of gold, heavy in their weight and placed them on the table.

"This is forward payment. You will receive the bulk once your worth has been proven. Anything less than success and all your profit will be forfeited."

"You drive a hard bargain."

The criminal seemed all the more intrigued by what he had seen. Lily watched his face, noticing his interest levels rising. He had talked so much about wanting to save his life, but when faced with something like buckets of money, his tune seemed to change so much.

Her big brother seemed to notice it too.

"That change in tone is rather sudden. Why now?"

"Well, yes I did say that there are some bets you just don't take, but then again, I assumed that you weren't going to be paying this much upfront. I might have misjudged."

"You might have? You have and by quite a longshot."

"My mistake. I guess my people skills need some brushing up."

Lily kept swinging her head back and forth, watching and listening. This right here was a clear demonstration of just how much a person's tune could shift once a sufficient reward was brought into the equation. More often than not, lien drove people to do lots of things, even things that they normally wouldn't do. Personally, the little girl couldn't understand why that was the case. All she knew was that lien usually could buy lots of things, pretty much anything and everything as long as the price was right.

But this wasn't just any small amount here. This was worth a small fortune and to pay something this much just to steal something. She didn't know what Gilgamesh was trying to get. He wasn't always giving her the details that pertained to the bigger picture. All he talked to her about was training to make her more powerful. His logic was that she didn't need to know anything until the details were ironed out and when she was relevant.

Naturally, Lily wanted to know everything that was going on, so this was her chance. Or maybe this was exactly what her guardian wished of her. She didn't know what specifically she was supposed to be getting out of this exchange. She would have to ask him later.

"But if this is your upfront payment, then I might just reconsider." Roman tapped a finger on the table. "I have been meaning to do some large projects, but I've never had the right amount of lien. With this though…"

"I promise you that should you refuse this offer, I will not be making another one." Gilgamesh put his foot down. "You have one minute to decide beginning now."

"Whoa there, wait a minute." Roman was caught off guard. "Now that is no way to do business. How can you-"

"Fifty-five seconds." Gilgamesh warned.

"Really?" Roman put a hand to his forehead. "Putting me on the spot?"

"If I were you, I would spend less time complaining and more time deciding." Gilgamesh sat up straight. "Fifty seconds."

"I guess I have no choice." Roman sighed explosively. "Since you asked so nicely, I think this is an offer that I can't refuse."

"The details will be sent to your scroll and a package will be delivered by this time tomorrow." Gilgamesh stood up with his hands in his pockets. "Do not expect any form of contact for the duration of the job."

"Why not?" Roman questioned. "I kind of like to have my employer at least within reach of a scroll."

"There are other personal matters that require my attention." Gilgamesh closed off that avenue of discussion.

The red-eyed man swiftly turned his back and made for the exit and Lily followed, not expecting to be called. Then a thought popped into her mind.

She should have returned the stolen scroll.

Fate/Stay Night - - - RWBY

Gilgamesh didn't even break a sweat while strong arming Roman Torchwick into doing some dirty work for him. The man might fancy himself a gentleman and a consummate businessman, he was little more than a pathetic rat. He was a selfish, arrogant, and pretentious fool. All of his actions served himself in the end; he could paint himself in the most positive way possible, but it didn't change the fact that he craved power. He craved expensive artifacts and he craved wealth, but most of all, he craved the thrill.

Obviously, putting on a fake mask of cowardice served as a test to how serious this transaction was going to be. This was a very serious deal.

Precisely the reason why the King of Heroes had a permanent scowl on his face.

Dealing with mongrels like this was far from his mode of operation. While he was more than capable of negotiation to an outrageous degree, it was not something he cared to partake in. At its very core, diplomacy was little more than a thinly-veiled disguise, a means of gaining an advantage over an opposing force, but instead of using physical force, it was a battle of intellect and words. Such things were done in the name of morality and righteousness, both of which were lies.

Gilgamesh only cared to entertain such pointlessness for the simple and sheer joy of watching his opponents squirm in the palm of his hand. He especially got a kick out of meeting people who either claimed themselves to be of high virtue or was spoken to be very ethical by others. It made reducing them to shocked and defeated messes all the more enticing. Granted, not everyone was so quick to admit defeat. The more stubborn ones clung onto their own set of rules in a desperate attempt to save their own identity and meaning to their life.

Saber had done just that when Iskandar had revealed the folly of her way of rulership. It was a beautiful sight indeed.

For the briefest of moments, the former ruler of Uruk smirked at this memory.

But only for a few seconds before receding back into a mask of disinterest.

Lately, it felt like the things he used to take so much joy in did not do so now. Eating the food he pleased, drinking all the wine he desired, bedding the women he wished, collecting the treasures that he claimed as his own, ruling over all people, these were just a collection of the many things he had done in his life, including his time on Remnant.

Gilgamesh glanced down at Lily as she skipped by his side, a look of adulterated carefreeness. It was something that most children in the world did, but he couldn't remember if he ever acted like this. His many attempts at trying to remember his childhood had him facing a mental blank. It felt like he never had the phase in life, a time of ignorant bliss and happiness. All he could remember right now was everything else.

How strange.

Gilgamesh's mood, in a way, reflects how I am viewing this story. Honestly, Gilgamesh is one of the hardest characters to write about, at least in the way that I'm choosing to write him.

I might sound like a broken record at this point, but I believe that it's critical to make sure that the protagonist remains true to the source material. The point of an original story is to pose a "what if" scenario to a character. Using their morals, beliefs, and characteristics, a writer then guides the MC through the scenario to completion, doing the best to maintain the roots and foundations while also building and evolving. It's a delicate balance and I'm still learning how to do it even after all this time.

But now that I think about it, with the way Humanity has evolved, to Gilgamesh's perception, isn't everything more or less beyond redemption? Maybe that's why he's so moody. He's got to pick up the mess that Mankind has created.

Seriously, this is hard writing for Gilgamesh. The fact that I've managed to pull it off (according to many of my reviewers) is an incredible thing by itself to me. I consider myself cautious, but leaning more towards the side of optimisim and hope. I've always believed that we should always do what's right and if that fails, then we do what's necessary.

But enough about me. Thoughts and feedback would be greatly appreciated. Lots of you are apparently pleased to be reading about Gilgamesh being a real piece of work, which is kind of disturbing and weird, but what right do I have to judge any of you? I wrote the thing, so does that make me more questionable as the creator?

Eh, it's probably best not to think about it too much.

This chapter was edited in a hurry, so if you see errors, now you know why.

Thanks for reading and I hope you all enjoyed reading.

"He that can have patience can have what he will."

Benjamin Franklin