A/N: This story was inspired by the fact that Space Ereshkigal has no My Room lines for Kama in FGO, despite having something to say about each of the other (former) Beasts... hope you enjoy!

Dark Matter and Dark Love

A Fate/Grand Order Fan Fiction

by Derald Snyder

Section 1: The Meeting

(Unbelievable,) she thought to herself as she observed the small crowd outside the summoning chamber. (How utterly annoying and aggravating...)

It wasn't supposed to have been possible. The Beasts, Evils of Humanity that the Heroic Spirit Summoning system and Throne of Heroes had literally been created to stop... which meant that they could never be summoned themselves. At least, not as they originally were.

She should know, as she had been a Beast once herself... Beast III/L, to be exact. But now she was simply Assassin-class, Kama, the god of love, whose very occupation had been the foundation for her Beasthood, despite hating both humans and gods... well, one or two gods in particular.

Indeed, her other half, Kiara Sessyoin, had been summoned as an Alter Ego-class herself, though demonstrating the ability to shift into the Moon Cancer class if she so desired, having been partially responsible for the creation of the original Moon Cancer, Black Blossom (or BB for short). Beast II Tiamat had recently arrived as an Alter Ego as well, having reincarnated into a larval state to help humanity against another Beast, VI/S, also known as Queen Draco or Sodom's Beast, in an alternate timeline... an alternate possibility of the infamous Red Saber, Nero Claudius, Fifth Emperor of Rome.

And therein lies the rub... Nero already had demonstrated the ability to be summoned into several different classes, so it should have been a given that Queen Draco would be summoned as an Alter Ego... yet somehow retained her Beast-class in full, literally shutting down the summoning system just to forcibly manifest herself in Chaldea. Apparently she owed a great debt to the Master of Chaldea, though Kama hadn't bothered to learn the details.

But it wasn't Draco that had earned her ire; rather, it was the newest arrival from the Servantverse, Space Ereshkigal. That Space Ishtar had a sister just like her counterpart from this world was not a surprise. What was surprising was that she was a Beast-class, while Space Ishtar was simply an Avenger. But that wasn't the only thing that got under Kama's skin... it was the fact that Space Ereshkigal seemed to be so darn happy. Even Draco still maintained a somber, cynical attitude despite now fighting for humanity... well, in her child form, anyway. But, the way she acted in adult form was pretty much the same as Nero's other classes, so that was at least somewhat excusable.

Speaking of Draco... "Unhand me! Put me down! This is no way to pay your respects to a fellow Beast!" So she said as the newest arrival, dressed in white and green with two curled horns extending from the sides of her head, crowned with dirty blond hair, which framed deep blue eyes, a small nose and thin lips, curled up in a perpetual smile as she cuddled with the smaller blonde, who Kama noted wasn't really making much of an effort to escape. Standing with them was the Master of Chaldea, as well as the other former Beasts- Kiara with her ever-present infuriating smirk, and Tiamat in her larval state, who apparently approved of Space Ereshkigal's horns, being smaller and better balanced than the oversized ones that crowned her own head.

Kama herself was remaining in spirit form, having no real desire to join the little party that had gathered around the new arrival... (To hell with this,) she thought, taking her leave. She had no desire to associate with this Beast from a different universe who bucked all the trends of the Evils of Humanity from this era...

*Some time later...*

Kama lay on her bed in her personal quarters, staring pointlessly at the ceiling in her child form, her leg occasionally twitching from boredom... she was not looking forward to the next deployment, where her godly powers would be used for something as mundane as shooting down wyverns, so the others could try to salvage their teeth and scales... sure, this bed was adequate for rest, and her Master treated her decently well, giving her cake whenever she demanded it... but she was not happy. Not one bit. No, sirree.

There was a knock at the door. Kama realized the presence at once, her teeth briefly gritting in annoyance... then heaving a resigned sigh as she sat up, shifting to her teenage form. (Might as well get this over with...) "Enter," she said aloud.

To her surprise, the woman who entered was not a blonde, but instead had purple hair pulled up into long twin-tails... while her facial structure was the same, her eyes were now a deep green in color. She was dressed all in black, wearing a small golden tiara on her head, behind which jutted a few black pointed horns, with a slightly larger horn visible on the right side of her head. "Who are you?" Kama couldn't help but ask.

"Ereshkigal, Mistress of the Underworld," she replied politely. "Or, at least that's how I was known initially. But now I am Anki-Ereshkigal, Beast-class, the personification of the dark matter beyond the known universe. You are Kama, the former Beast III, correct?"

"Beast III/L, but close enough," Kama replied. "Let me guess, another ascension? You look different from how I saw you at the summoning chamber..."

"Ah, so that was your presence I sensed earlier," Anki-Ereshkigal nodded. "Master said that you tended to be a bit cynical in attitude, so I thought it would be better to greet you in this form instead."

Of course her Master had spilled the beans on her. Why wouldn't he? "Ever hear the phrase, 'curiosity killed the cat'?"

"Satisfaction brought it back," Anki-Eresh shot back smugly. "So why did you not come out to greet me like your fellow Beasts did?"

"Two reasons: one, I didn't feel like it, and two, I can't stand to be anywhere near that damn Kiara for any length of time," Kama asserted. "We might be halves of Beast III, but we are complete opposites in every way. The only reason Kiara dragged what was left of me after my defeat as a Beast to Chaldea to be summoned, was to derive pleasure from my inevitable suffering..."

"Yikes. Talk about bad blood," Anki-Eresh shook her head. "I don't get along well with Ashtart myself, but she seems to have mellowed out greatly from when was the Primordial Goddess..."

"You don't say," Kama deadpanned. "Well, I have nothing to say to you, so why don't you take your leave?"

"My, you're not even curious as to why I was summoned to this universe?" Anki-Eresh prodded.

"It's obvious, the reason why. You've fallen head over heels for Master, just like the Ereshkigal of this universe," Kama sighed, letting herself fall back on her bed. "I'm the god of love, after all. I know that look of longing in someone's eyes... I just wonder how long it will be before you realize your love is shallow and one-sided?"

"You sound like you think true love is a complete farce," Anki-Ereshkigal observed. "I'm guessing that you have never really known love yourself... that might explain why you manifested as an Evil of Humanity."

"Ding, ding, ding, we have a winner," Kama said with zero enthusiasm. "There's also the fact that Shiva incinerated me to ashes with his lightning just for me doing my job for once... and of course his wife has been summoned here as a pseudo-servant with a human girl as her vessel..." She sat back up. "This current form is actually based on that same girl, or rather, her inner darkness. I took on this form to spite that Parvati personally."

"I see... I was just thinking, seeing you in that form gives me a sense of déjà vu for some reason, even though this is our first meeting..." Anki-Eresh pondered.

"Perhaps it has something to do with the fact that the girl that our Ishtar took as a vessel is the biological sister of Parvati's vessel, and mine as well," Kama elaborated. Even if you and Space Ishtar didn't do the same, the resemblance is still uncanny."

"Very interesting. I knew I made the right choice letting myself be summoned here," Anki-Ereshkigal smiled. "Perhaps I should go and meet this Parvati as well."

"Knock yourself out," Kama sighed as she flopped down on her bed once more. "But don't blame me if her sweetness and light makes you sick. It certainly does for me..."

"Sounds like personal bias to me," her fellow goddess lightly taunted. "But don't think you can rebuff me so easily, Kama. We will meet again..."

"Sure we will," Kama grumbled in response, making a half-hearted wave as Anki-Ereshkigal turned and left... (Still... if she's fallen so hard for Master, then maybe...)

A sinister smirk slowly crept over her face as an idea began to form...

To be continued...