Rhea felt a warm hand card itself through her hair. It felt incredibly nice, before reality hit her like a brick.
Green eyes almost opened to find out who was in her room when she had warded put her tent in the most unlikely place possible to avoid anyone finding her. Considering Enkidu wanted to stay close to his best friend for a while, she had decided to stick around...but renting a hotel room was too risky, especially since one of the Masters clearly had zero issue blowing up an entire hotel just to get to one of the others.
At least she could move her tent around and avoid being found.
Unless it was Gilgamesh, who simply followed Enkidu straight to her.
She heard a masculine chuckle, and the hand stroked her hair again in a comforting manner. She took stock of what she knew without having to open her eyes, thus alerting the one doing it she was awake.
It was a man, one who felt impossibly warm and for some odd reason registered as (safe) to her. Which was really throwing her off because she had never felt safe once, except in rare fleeting moments after fleeing the UK. He had a rather unusual scent that was vaguely familiar, and well defined abs. His clothing was made of the softest and likely most expensive material available. Whoever he was, he radiated confidence and power from his very being almost like an aura.
She cautiously opened up an eye, registered the presence of Gilgamesh, before silently curling into the hand.
Gilgamesh chuckled deeper. After the long talk he had with Enkidu, he had decided to treat her as an extension of him. Almost like a pet, really.
Rhea reminded him of the many pet lions he had kept, though in her case it was more a proud lioness. Right now though she was more like an innocent little kitten seeking affection. Something that according to Enkidu she had been denied nearly her entire life. Seeing her nuzzle into his side was positively addicting.
It was only when her stomach reminded her that it wanted food that she got up. But there was a relaxed air about her that was normally absent.
He slid his arms around her waist, causing the most delicious squeak from her.
"What are you..." she started to say, before she felt his interest against her backside. An enormous blush crossed her face.
Suddenly, Gilgamesh felt a summons from Tokiomi. Since he didn't want that pathetic excuse of a 'Master' to know about his little kitten, he would have to answer.
"We shall continue where we left off when I return, kitten," he purred.
Rhea stared at him in shock and disbelief.
What the hell just happened?!
Several hours later...
Gilgamesh had to wonder why his kitten was suddenly so skittish around him. He had only expressed his royal interest in her, like he had any number of women.
It took Enkidu to illuminate his king on what was going on.
"Rhea has never dated anyone, so someone like you showing such an intense interest in her confuses and bewilders her," said Enkidu amused. "Especially since she took one look at you the first night and developed a minor crush on you...though part of that might be my influence on her psyche."
"Why should she so afraid of me? It's rare for anyone to obtain my interest."
"Yes, but the majority of her life was without any love or affection. Showing romantic interest like you did this morning threw her off balance, and she has no idea how to respond since she has nothing to base the feeling off of," said Enkidu flatly. "The way you treated her before breakfast was a much better start, but if you come on too strong she will run."
Enkidu was of the opinion Rhea would be good for Gilgamesh...and by extension having someone like him around would allow her to develop the confidence she lacked due to her up-bringing. She was too reliant on him for protection, so learning to let her defenses down and actually relax would only benefit her.
She was far too lonely, and would empathize with his King in that regard. Especially after his death, which left Gilgamesh without anyone to really match him.
Besides, it meant great entertainment for him, watching his little Rhea fall for Gilgamesh.
Rhea was beyond furious, after a run-in with Berserker's Master. Learning he was in this war because Gilgamesh's Master sold out his youngest daughter to a monster that threw her into a pit filled with worms that proceeded to violate her for days on end made her blood boil.
Kariya seemed happy that Rhea was all too eager to see the Matou mansion burn to the ground and everyone under the age of ten murdered in as brutal a fashion as possible. However considering what she was told about these... Crest Worms, it was doubtful they would be able to fully rid the poor girl of them. At least, if they were trying to save the original body.
Irisviel had taken a liking to Rhea enough to mention a spell called the 'transferal of consciousness', and after hearing about how thoroughly the worms had invaded the bodies of Kariya and Sakura, she was positive that would solve both their problems.
Zouken's main hold over his 'son' was that he had Sakura hostage via those damn worms, and Kariya was using up his own life force to even maintain Berserker's existence. He was a dead man walking and he knew it.
Well, far be it for her to let the princess suffer because her knight wasn't strong enough to defeat the demon holding her captive...and if she saw that Tokiomi bastard she was going to gut him, Gilgamesh's master or not.
(Needless to say Kariya gave rather vocal approval of that idea and offered to help if possible.)
First things first though...she needed to do some brewing to insure the crest worms didn't try to kill Sakura once she dealt with Zouken.
A few days later...
Gilgamesh was at the Kotomine Church to bug Kirei out of boredom when he heard the news that the Matou mansion had been completely obliterated by a Noble Phantasm.
The thing was that he had sensed someone accessing his treasury and he had a feeling he knew exactly who it was. He wondered what those mongrels had done to royally piss off his kitten.
So you could imagine his surprise to find a small child that felt tainted sleeping peacefully in one of the guest rooms, and Rhea working on something nearby. He could tell she had been brewing something because the smell lingered.
"What is that doing here?"
"When I get my hands on that so-called Master of yours, I am going to gut him in the most painfully drawn out method I can think of... I believe a blood eagle or something close to what Vlad the Impaler did to his enemies might suffice," she said darkly. "I'm sure with a few potions and spells, his death will be drawn out enough that he can still maintain your existence for the duration of the war without ever giving him a chance to recover if by some miracle he manages to free himself."
Gilgamesh...was incredibly turned on by how bloodthirsty she was being.
"What did the mongrel do to piss you off?"
She pointed at the child.
"He sold his daughter off to the Matou, who practice the most foul magecraft I have ever heard of and allowed his youngest to be violated by crest worms simply because, and I'm quoting Kariya on this... she was the 'spare'," spat Rhea pissed off. "Out of all the people he could have sent her too, what in god's name made him chose that monster?!"
The golden king couldn't help but feel Kirei would enjoy her rage, and he would enjoy the show...so long as Kirei didn't get any ideas about who the kitten belonged to.
"How do you plan to fix her?" asked Gilgamesh.
"First I put her under the Draught of the Living Death. Kariya confirmed that forced the worms into a stasis they can't break out of no matter what Zouken might attempt. Once I have the replacement bodies ready for her and Kariya, I'll use a transferal of conscious to put their souls into the new bodies. That way they'll be worm free," said Rhea.
"You honestly believe that would work?" asked Gilgamesh, dubious.
"Well according to Kariya, their bodies are too infested with worms, and there are a few in some rather horrifying or impossible to remove areas...such as close to her heart. Compared to the long hours of surgery that she might not even survive, transferring her soul to a new container is honesty her best chance to be rid of the things once and for all. And considering what her so-called father did, I'm using Kariya's original DNA as the male base, since he can get part of her birth mother's blood for the female."
When she had proposed the idea to Kariya, he had looked at her dumbfounded before hitting himself for not thinking of such a simple solution. Sure, it meant Sakura would have a few months of rehabilitation and getting used to a new body, but compared to the suffering she went through thanks to those damn worms it was honestly her best hope at a normal life.
Though he had blushed when she said she would be using his DNA with Aoi's to create Sakura's new body. Tokiomi had sold his daughter off to the Matou after all and once she killed off Zouken then Kariya would be head of the family. In a way Sakura would become his illegitimate child with the girl he had loved for ages, but couldn't marry because he refused to submit her to the torture that all women who married into the family went through.
Right now though, she was using a bit of magic to create Kariya's new body at an accelerated speed. He was more at risk of dying early because he was maintaining Berserker and because he was breaking down from the worms inside him. Sakura was stable and more importantly under the potion which would keep her in a state of complete stasis until the antidote was administered.
Kariya had made it clear he was only interested in winning the Grail so that Zouken would free Sakura. However if someone else were to save the girl he considered his own, then he would happily hand over the Command Seals without a second thought. He had never liked the Moonlit World to begin with.
Gilgamesh waited until she had hit a decent lull point, where she merely had to wait for things to finish, before he pinned her to the couch.
Her blush took over the entirety of her face, especially when he gently kissed her.
Rhea squirmed from under him.
"How thorough is that potion the girl is under?" he asked seriously.
"She essentially in a magical coma, and only the antidote will break her out of it," said Rhea without thinking.
The predatory gleam in his eyes told her of the mistake she had made telling him that, but oddly enough she couldn't find it in herself to give a damn.
Just once she wanted to be a normal teenager and make out with a hot guy, even if he was an arrogant bastard.
Rhea had some rather suspicious hickeys on her neck the next time she ran into Saber and Iris.
Gilgamesh looked at the pensieve with open disgust, and it took considerable effort not to abandon the Grail War entirely and teach the mongrels of England a lesson for their impertinence.
After witnessing even a fraction of what the English dogs put his future queen through, he was in a rather murderous mood.
They had treated her like a caged bird for their amusement and lashed out every time she attempted to display even the thought of freedom from their idiocy. It was little wonder Enkidu had forcibly converted her body and liberated her from them.
Though it was honestly up for debate who would die first if he went... Dumbledore, Snape, or this...Malfoy character. Riddle was entirely Rhea's problem as he had made it personal with the attack on her parents.
Rhea was a delightful change compared to the vapid women he had to deal with in his original life. Unlike Saber, she wasn't a stiff-necked prude with far too much pride, but a tigress who was fiercely protective of her own without trying to sacrifice her female side in the process.
One that had been ill-treated until she had enough and fled her homeland, and was desperately seeking acceptance and love.
So far her affections towards him were mostly remnants of Enkidu's own feelings, but he wanted to secure her heart all to himself. From what he had seen, once he had her loyalty she would no more waver than her 'father' would have, which was a rare quality indeed.
A woman capable of sacrificing herself before betraying her King was a rare quality to have, even if she wouldn't hesitate to call him out on his bullshit.
The fact that once she relaxed and smiled from her heart she was quite beautiful was a pleasant bonus.
The only catch was that she was a blank slate when it came to romance and having a man genuinely interested in her as a woman.
Which was why he was going to do something unusual and take her out for a date. He had played around with the idea for some time now, but it had felt too 'common' for his tastes. After seeing her memories though, he realized the best way to sneak his way into her heart was through small steps, rather than grand gestures.
Rhea clearly showed an aversion to avert shows of wealth if the disgust she displayed towards Malfoy was any indication. Then again he was a spoiled brat who's only redeeming quality was that his family was 'rich' and that his father was influential or sneaky enough that he was considered moderately powerful. He didn't have anything to back up his words if his father's wealth or power base were to be stripped from him.