It had been a long time since they had come to this place. Decades, centuries even. It was hard to gauge the time here. It was ever shifting, growing longer and shorter in the span of a breath. They did not even really remember who they were anymore. Just an inkling of there being something important that they were forgetting.

They prowled the darkness, not really paying much attention to the feather-covered humans that ate the dirt from the floor and struggled to drink the liquid that poured from above.

What were they searching for? Why were they wandering around as if they had a purpose? Was there even a purpose to this place?

They paused and sniffed the air. An odd scent. One that was not there before. A familiar scent but why did they know it? A new emotion welled up in the beast, one it had not felt in a long time. Curiosity drove them towards the source of that scent.

Hakuno was shocked with how easy it was to pass through the gilded gates of the Underworld.

They just opened when Gilgamesh and Hakuno approached. Did Gula inform Ereshkigal of their arrival? She also found it strange how short the trip was to get here. Based on the tablets, she assumed it would have taken them weeks, but they got to the gate in about a day. Probably the magic of the gods at work.

"Enkidu!" Gilgamesh stepped over the threshold.

Hakuno sighed in relief when he didn't turn to dust or fall over dead or something else that was horrible. His deity-blood probably protected him from that. The question was, would he Gula blessing give her the same level of protection?

"Hakuno? Is something wrong?"

She shook her head. "No, nothing. Sorry Gil." She took a deep breath and took a large step. And let out another sigh of relief when she felt completely like herself. Still probably should not stay here too long though.

Gilgamesh held out his hand for her to take. "I want you to be close to me."

Hakuno nodded. This place overall had a sense of wrongness to it. However, that might be due to them being alive in a place for the dead.

As they traveled forward, she caught sight of some of the deceased mortals. Like the tablets foretold, the humans here were dressed in feathers, the only thing to eat was the dirt on the floor. It was nice to know the tablets were generally correct to how the Underworld was.

Watching a couple of deceased humans scramble to drink a stream of water that was flowing down from above, hit home to Hakuno that she would get this same treatment now when she passed. She was the Queen of Uruk. She knew that there was a slave assigned to provide drink for the previous rulers of Uruk every day.

"The Underworld does not look that inviting," growled Gilgamesh.

"This is probably for those without many alive to remember them," replied Hakuno. "I assume royalty and others that are remembered well have better conditions."

"Oh, right, that is true. You think any of them will respond if we ask them something?"

Hakuno stared at Gilgamesh in surprise. "You are asking my opinion on that?"

"I will admit you probably know more about what happens down here than I do. And you can names all of the Gods associated with this place."

"Queen Ereshkigal?"

"Yes, her. See?" Gilgamesh frowned and then pushed Hakuno behind him. "Something is coming," he growled.

Something?

It took her a moment to hear the pitter patter of footsteps. Not the light steps of the dead around them but steps that disturbed the dust.

Out of the darkness before them, out padded a creature on all fours. Something that was all claws and teeth with eyes that glowed gold.

Gilgamesh handed his satchel over to her and pulled out his sword. "There hasn't been much fighting for me to do on this whole trip. I have frustration to let out."

Hakuno gathered her healing magic within her. What was this thing? Was it one of the demons that made the Underworld its home?

"Stay back creature or you will meet the end of my blade," growled Gilgamesh. He smirked. "Or you can tell me where my dear friend Enkidu is. From what I remember, most of your kind can speak."

Was she imagining it or did the demon's eyes flicker in recognition. A sense of unease came over her and she really took in the monster. A bit of green poked through its grimy, stringy hair, a part that the dirt of this place missed.

That face. Even when it was twisted in a snarl, the teeth longer than normal, she knew that face. That was the one that smiled at her, that looked at her with wonder, the one that snarled to protect her. The one who followed her back to Uruk and became close friends with her King.

"Hakuno! What are you doing!?"

Hakuno side-stepped to avoid Gilgamesh grabbing her. "It's Enkidu," she whispered.

"It's…" Gilgamesh froze and looked at the demon again. "Enkidu."

Hakuno kneeled and held out a hand. "It'll be alright," she said in a soft voice. "Enkidu, we're here. We're here for you."

Enkidu let out another low growl in warning but took a cautious step towards her. When she did not move, they took another.

"That's it," she replied, keeping her voice low, level and soothing. "Come here Enkidu. We know who you are. We came here for you. We came here to take you home."

What had this place done to them? There was no trace of the intelligence that used to be in Enkidu's eyes. In fact, they were more beast-like than when she had met them the first time.

They were almost within touching distance when they glanced up at Gilgamesh, uncertainly.

"Gil, kneel next to me. You're making them nervous," she murmured.

Gilgamesh obeyed and set his sword behind him. "It will be alright Enkidu." He held out his hand as well, palm out. "We're here for you."

Enkidu looked at the hands and then at them. A low whine before they took another step forward. She slowly turned her hand over and reached for Enkidu's head. They did not move, and she tried not to grimace and cry as her hand touched their crusty, tangled hair on the scalp.

"There, there Enkidu. You're alright. You're safe now."

"En…ki…du…" Their voice was hoarse, like it had not been used in a long time. A hint of the old intelligence was there, in those eyes.

"Do you remember us?" asked Gilgamesh.

"En..kidu. I…Enkidu." Enkidu expression shifted to one of confusion. Their long fangs retracted into their mouth and their overall form shifted to a more human one. They stared. "Ha…kuno? G…Gil?"

Tears pricked the edge of her eyes as she could not hold back anymore. She swept Enkidu into a hug. "I'm here. We're here Enkidu. We're here. I'm sorry we took so long."

Gilgamesh hugged both of them. "It was a long trip to get to you," he said with a laugh.

"You…came for me…I thought…it had been so long."

"We're sorry. We're so sorry. It just took so long to get to these mountains." Hakuno grabbed some jerky from a satchel. "Please. Eat. Get your strength back. Probably not too much at once though."

Enkidu took the jerky and took a big bite. "It's good." Tears slipped down their cheeks, leaving an obvious trail on their grimy face. "It's good."

"Enkidu, you will come back to the surface willingly with us right?" Hakuno remembered Ishtar's words. Enkidu had to come willingly.

"Of course." Enkidu struggled to stand but faltered.

Hakuno reached out and sent a pulse of her gift through Enkidu's body. She might not be able to heal the mental injuries of being in a place like this but she wanted to give them strength for the trip out of this place.

"Hakuno, perhaps that was not a good idea." Gilgamesh retrieved his sword from the ground.

"What do you…" She trailed off when she noticed the dead humans were now looking at them. Oh. She realized her error. First off, she revealed she had food from the overworld. The dead were only allowed to eat dirt. So by taking out the jerky to give to Enkidu, she revealed she had food of the overworld. And to add on top of it, her gift was blessed through Gula. Gula who had the power to revive the dead.

"We should probably get out of here and quickly. I think Ereshkigal will not be happy we have riled up the dead." Hakuno helped Enkidu to their feet. Her magic seemed to have helped them gain enough energy that they could stand but it was obviously borrowed strength.

"I've never fought the dead before but even I'm not sure on our chances here." Gilgamesh glanced at Enkidu. "Can you carry Hakuno? We are going to run to the gate."

Enkidu nodded. "I can but I will admit I need you to give me more of your strength Hakuno."

She nodded. This was no time to argue. She got onto Enkidu's back and could feel them shaking. She sent a burst of her magic into them and the shaking stopped. That seemed to rile up the dead more as they began ambling faster towards the group.

"Alright, we have overstayed our welcome. Time to go."

Gilgamesh and Enkidu took off running.

One of the dead moaned and reached out a hand. Gilgamesh swung his sword and it easily cut through the limb, dropping the appendage onto the ground. The wound did not bleed though, and the dead looked down at the fallen limb and moaned.

"How many can say they have fought the dead and lived!?" Gilgamesh laughed as he cut them a path.

Hakuno tried not to hold onto Enkidu too tightly but it was hard when they were moving quickly to avoid reaching hands and attacking the dead when with their nails. She had a feeling the dead were converging due to her having to keep feeding Enkidu her gift to help them stand but there was not much else she could do to help in this situation.

She let out a cry as she felt something grasp her hair.

Enkidu snarled and whirled around and struck the dead human. Pain raced through Hakuno's head, but she did not dull it like she usually would. All her magic was being pumped into Enkidu now.

The gate now before them, Gilgamesh stopped before it and turned around to face the oncoming hoard. Enkidu did not stop. As soon as Enkidu crossed the threshold, Gilgamesh jumped back as well. Before he could grab the gate, it slammed closed before the closest dead human could touch it.

"Are you alright Hakuno?" Enkidu kneeled so she could get off. "Is your head feeling fine?"

"I'm fine." Hakuno rubbed her head and found the exact spot where her hair had been pulled out. That was a bigger bald spot than she would have liked to have. "How about you Enkidu?"

"What happened?" growled Gilgamesh.

"I'm feeling alright. Just a bit tired though. And hungry. Very hungry." They frowned.

Hakuno pulled another few pieces of jerky from the bag and handed it to them. She winced as she heard the dead moan but it did not seem like they could reach through the bars of the gate to reach the group. Was she imagining it or was there a woman with bird wings behind the hoard of dead, watching what was happening?

"We should probably get going if you feel well enough to move." Gilgamesh eyed the gate and the dead. "I do not want to be down here anymore."

Hakuno held out her hand for Enkidu. "Here. I'll help you."

Gilgamesh also held out his arm. "You can lean on me."

Enkidu's face broke out into a wide smile and they took both Gilgamesh's and Hakuno's hands.