The World was torn asunder.
Although Gilgamesh called his 'sword' Ea, that was simply a nickname of convenience given to it by him. It was a nameless weapon. One that was there to enact the beginning.
It was a rarity among rarities, a pure manifestation of the power of the gods. The power to enact Genesis. Only Gilgamesh, one who inherited the essence of the gods, was permitted to wield the power of the beginning and the end.
The cylindrical 'sword' was divided into 3 sections. They spun in opposite directions, creating a tempest in its wake. The winds howled, faster and louder than any natural winds could ever reach.
The storm surrounding the opposing Heroic Spirits and the storm Ea created was drawn in and compressed into the 'sword'. They condensed in the tip of the sword, creating a fissure in space itself. Sound and light converged in the fissure, and silence and darkness encircled the sword.
With a wild grin, Gilgamesh swung the 'sword' at his friend on the ground.
With one slash of his 'sword', the fissure was released down towards Enkidu. The sheer pressure from the fissure tore apart reality, opening a tear in reality. The World itself was sucked up into the Void in the tear, and turned inside out.
The Void escaped from this tear, rupturing space further. The World eroded, slowly being torn apart by growing fissures in reality.
The sands of the desert cracked like clay. The sky and clouds were shredded like paper. The area around the beam shattered like glass. It was a hellish landscape, as if a painting of the desert had been thrown into a blender.
This was the true form of the Noble Phantasm Enuma Elish
This was the right of a king. To trample all falsehoods and estate his own truth upon the World itself. And yet—
In response to Ea, the planet sang.
Enkidu stood still as a giant flood of mana shot forth from the ground. The flood rushed forward to swallow the Void whole. As the mana surged, Enkidu's lips moved. His voice was lost in the storm of the Void to all but the planet and the king.
Whatever words were spoken, it caused even more mana to surge forth. The sheer amount of mana made the overwhelming flood seem like a wave in the ocean. The ocean of mana became a hurricane of energy enveloping Enkidu's body.
The formless energy gathered, taking shape and form. Now, instead of an ocean of mana, a gigantic lance of light opposed the Void.
Among this hellish landscape, it stood as a purely beautiful thing. As if heaven itself manifested here.
To it, the Void meant nothing.
The lance surged forth, clashing with the Void. As Ea's slash tore the World apart, the divine lance dove headfirst into it. In an instant, without any sign of difficulty, it sewed shut the fissures opened by Ea.
As the Void threatened to overtake the desert, the lance closed it shut. The power of the beginning and the end meant nothing to it. It would link the seas and land back to the heavens.
If Ea turned this land into a hellscape, then Enkidu's divine lance would change it into paradise.
This was the true form of the Noble Phantasm Enuma Elish
The only person on site could only stare in awe as he watched the two Noble Phantasms clashed. Fujimaru Ritsuka was no stranger to unusual sights and epic struggles of power, yet none of his experiences diminished the awe of the spectacle in front of him. To him, it looked as if the world was destroyed and reborn.
He was far enough from the Heroic Spirits that they looked like small gnats in the center of the world's creation and rebirth. Yet despite this, he could feel the high speeds winds threatening to push him over. Every hair on his body stood on end as he felt the massive amounts of mana washing over him.
His instincts told him he should run. His mind screamed for him to move. But he dare not move a muscle. Deep down, beneath the screaming voice telling him to run was another voice. It told him the truth.
Even moving a little could throw cold water over this precious reunion for Gil and Enkidu.
And doing that would be the height of rudeness towards two people that had helped him out so much during his long journey. So he did not move. Instead, he bore witness to a beautiful sight not even Chaldea could offer him.
Only after the World was destroyed and remade no less than seven times did the energies from the epic clash cancel each other out. The winds still blew harshly, but even they were dying down now that the clash had stalemated.
"I'm relieved." Gilgamesh spoke first as he descended from the sky, gracefully landing on the ground. "I was momentarily bewildered by the remarkably nostalgic form you've taken, but it seems that you haven't regressed on the inside." Although Gilgamesh's tone was haughty as always, it was very clear his attitude was different to Enkidu. "Still, to come all the way out to the desert to receive me… you're a selfish one, as always. Only you would be foolish enough to prioritize your concern for a forest giving me a warm welcome."
Enkidu only smiled softly in response, causing Gilgamesh to shake his head.
"And beyond that." Gilgamesh continued. "You've clearly been distracted by something." His eyes narrowed as he regarded Enkidu. "Tell me, what could be so important that it distracts you so?"
"It's nothing important." Enkidu responded with a shake of their head. "Just strange." They turned their head towards the distance behind them. Gilgamesh followed their gaze, his eyes seeing Fujimaru Ritsuka.
"Oh? That mongrel?" Gilgamesh scoffed and waved his hand dismissively. "I will admit that his sudden appearance in this world is a curiosity, but in the end, nothing important. It is a poor excuse, Enkidu."
Enkidu's soft smile never left their face. Gilgamesh may have only called it a curiosity, but Enkidu knew that there was something strange at play here. Their Presence Detection could pick up every life around them for several miles. They could sense every life in the desert, all the familiars watching them, and all the Mages and the Servants in the city.
Which only made it stranger that the boy suddenly appeared so close by right before the two Servants clashed. It wasn't as if he was hiding, and Enkidu missed him, nor was it something as simple as his presence being so weak Enkidu couldn't sense them until they came too close.
The mysterious boy was just not there one second, and there the next. As if he just popped into existence.
That was not something magecraft could accomplish.
And even stranger still… they—
"If it's so distracting, I can simply get rid of him." Gilgamesh stated, lazily moving his head. A golden portal opened right next to his head, aimed right at Ritsuka. Enkidu gently placed their hand over the portal.
"I'm sorry Gil, but I do wish to remain on good terms with that boy." Enkidu stated, their soft smile never leaving their face. Gilgamesh's face was marred with confusion.
"Oh? Is his little magic trick such an intriguing thing to you?" Gilgamesh asked, although he knew there had to be something more than just that.
"Let's just say… I remember him trying to help me with a great problem of mine, and for that I believe he should at least be allowed the chance to live." Enkidu explained. Gilgamesh let out a decidedly unkingly sigh.
"Fine, in that case, he will leave if you ask him too, no?" Gilgamesh folded his arms. "Tell the mongrel to leave so that we may continue."
"Of course." Enkidu nodded in acknowledgement before completely turning around. Without another word, Enkidu took off like a flash of light.
Barely a few seconds passed as Enkidu crossed the distance between them and Ritsuka. To Ritsuka, it looked as if Enkidu just appeared in front of him, like a high speed jumpscare.
"Gah!" Ritsuka cried out as he nearly jumped out of his own skin. "Oh, geez, please, don't just do that." He muttered as his heart pounded.
"I apologize, Fujimaru Ritsuka. I didn't mean to frighten you." Enkidu supplied in a neutral tone.
"It's fine, it's fine. Just… gimme a second." Ritsuka muttered as he took a few deep breaths. Something then clicked for Ritsuka, causing him to look at Enkidu. "Wait, you know who I am?"
"Is that so surprising?" Enkidu asked in a nonchalant tone.
"Pretty surprising, honestly." Ritsuka admitted. "Especially since you didn't call me Master, so that definitely means you aren't a Chaldean Servant."
"My memory of you is vague." Enkidu responded. "But I do remember the answer I came to. How it matters not why I was created, but how I interact with others, how I live, and how all that connects."
"I guess that means your wish came true then."
"... Not just yet, but it is a wonderful first step." Enkidu took a step back. "Now, because of your kindness, I managed to convince Gil to let you go."
"Really? Thanks so much for that. Honestly, I wasn't sure how to get outta this bind I found myself in." Ritsuka laughed a little, somewhat out of embarrassment, but mostly to attempt to calm his own nerves.
Enkidu gave a small nod before continuing. "There is a human city behind you. I'm sure you'll be able to find shelter there. However…"
"However?" Ritsuka asked as he turned around, seeing the distant city lights. It was a rather modern looking city too. There had to be a catch right? Was this similar to Shinjuku, where the whole city was isolated from the world? Or Fuyuki, where everyone was dead and it was all on fire?
"Do you see the forest over there?" Enkidu motioned to the distance. Looking over to where Enkidu motioned, Ritsuka found he could only see more sand. He squinted, and barely made out a hint of green in the distance.
"I… think I see it…?" He muttered.
"I invite you to come to that forest in a few days so you may help refresh my vague memory." Enkidu stated. "There may be even more answers that I didn't remember."
"A few days, not now?" Ritsuka asked, a little confused.
"Ah, yes, well, my Master is injured, and I'd rather make sure they recover before inviting people over." Enkidu explained.
"What, they're hurt?! I should be able to hel—" The words died in Ritsuka's throat as he looked down at himself. Oh right. He was transported here… in his pajamas. Which meant no Mystic Codes. While he had a few spells he could do without them, their effectiveness was greatly diminished without one.
Could he actually be of any help in a situation like that?
"Thank you for your offer, but my Master will likely panic if you approach while they are injured. So I ask you to wait for a few days." Enkidu finished their explanation.
"Alright, that's fair enough." Ritsuka admitted. He looked over Enkidu's shoulder, feeling immense pressure coming from the direction of Gilgamesh. "I'm not gonna keep you away from him any longer. I'd say tell him thanks for me, but you know better than me what his response to that would be." Ritsuka joked.
WIth that, Ritsuka spun on his heel, jogging towards the city.
"See you in a few days!" He called out to Enkidu as he ran off towards relative safety.
As he ran, he did his best to keep his focus on the city ahead. That way, he didn't get distracted by what he was sure was a great spectacle behind him. However, the sounds of a great symphony of battle rang out and reached his ears.
Hearing this, Ritsuka decided to allow himself to look back just for a little bit.
The sky was lined with a seemingly uncountable amount of golden portals. They seemed to outnumber the stars in the night sky. Ritsuka had never seen Gilgamesh open so many portals before. Each one fired off Noble Phantasms like bullets from a gatling gun. Weapons that would be the ultimate trump cards of ordinary Heroic Spirits were fired off at an impossible rate.
And yet, Enkidu countered this easily as one would breathe. Their body became one with the earth, and transformed the body given to them by the gods. Countless amounts of divine weapons sprouted from the earth and fired back at Gilgamesh's weapons with an evenly matched speed.
"That… is so cool." Ritsuka muttered to himself as he saw the two sets of infinite weapons clash against each other. He allowed himself to gaze on the wondrous sight for one more second before he turned his attention back to the city, going from his jog to a full out run.
He needed to get away from this desert.
Barely three minutes passed before the symphony of weapons went silent. Ritsuka took that as a bad sign and began to push his body as hard as he could. No matter how much his lungs burned or his legs ached, he was determined to get to that city before something could happen.
However, his human determination was not enough to overcome Gilgamesh's farewell.
Ritsuka only made it shy of a mile away from his starting point before he saw the world being illuminated by a red light. Looking over his shoulder, he saw Gilgamesh once again holding up Ea.
The final swing from Ea was perhaps only equal to the swing Ritsuka witnessed when Gilgamesh delivered the final blow to Tiamat. A devastating explosion of red that engulfed the land back there.
If Ritsuka hadn't left when he did, it was very likely he would have gotten caught up in that blast. And even now, he wasn't safe.
For that final gigantic blast of Ea created a sandstorm that was rapidly surging his way.
He couldn't outrun it. So his only choice was to endure it. Looking around, there was no real place to take shelter, so there was only one thing he could do.
He slipped his arms out of his shirt sleeves and quickly pulled up his shirt. He turned it inside out, but didn't pull it completely off. Instead, he wrapped it around his head, making sure to tie off the top to keep it on his head.
And with that, he laid on his back.
He felt the sand blow over his body. One never truly realized just how rough sand could be until it blew over the bare skin of your body. He could feel the wind rushing over his head, and the sand gathering over his body. A physical weight began to push down on him as the sand buried him.
Soon, he couldn't hear the storm nor feel the wind. But that came with the caveat that he was buried under enough sand that it felt heavy. It was in fact starting to impede on his ability to breathe. It was frightening how heavy the tiny grains of sand felt.
With no choice, Ritsuka began to dig his way out of the sand.
He did his best to lift his hands out of the sand. The sand felt nearly as heavy as lead weights. He wiggled his arms, pushed his hands, and did anything he could to get the sand moving.
How long was this taking him? He wasn't sure. It couldn't be more than a few minutes, but the longer he was stuck under the sand, the slower time seemed to move. He wasn't sure if that was due to a lack of oxygen or just impatience. Perhaps both.
Slowly but surely, he managed to get his arm moving. It reached for the surface, like a plant reaching for the sun. He didn't know just how far away the surface was though. Even a difference of a foot could make this ordeal even more difficult.
Finally though, his right hand managed to breach the sand and grasp open air. With this small victory, Ritsuka's efforts doubled. He tried to use his right hand to unbury his face first. It was slow going, but he was sure with digging from both sides, he'd be able to make it before it was too late.
Then, something very strange happened.
The sand's pressure around his face began to rapidly shift away. Was… was someone digging him up? After a few more seconds of the sand being dug away, he felt two hands grasp his right hand and pull with all their might.
That small amount of might was all Ritsuka needed to get his shirt wrapped head above the sand once more.
"Whoa, it really is a person!" An excitable voice cried out. As the voice talked, Ritsuka reached up to his shirt top, clumsily untying it. The shirt fell down, letting Ritsuka both breathe and see freely.
The first thing he saw was a blonde haired boy talking to a watch on his wrist. That was… strangely spy-like. Were spy watches a real thing?
"Anyone get the license plate of that truck that hit me?" Ritsuka muttered as he lifted up his shirt and brushed the sand off his chest. He couldn't believe just how irritating the sand was. He found himself hoping they didn't go to a beach next summer.
"A truck hit you?" Flat asked, his hand going to his chin. "That kinda sounds like a story Org read once." He muttered to himself as he tapped his chin. "What was it called…? An isekai?"
"Ah, that was just a figure of speech. Sorry, sorry." Ritsuka replied. He reached down and began to dig the sand off his legs. "Thanks for digging me out. Thanks so much. That was… that was awful." He admitted. After taking another breath of fresh air, he looked back up at his savior. "I'm Fujimaru Ritsuka. Who are you?"
"Fujimaru Ritsuka, huh?" the boy repeated. "Well, it's nice to meet ya! I'm Flat Escardos!"
As Ritsuka dug himself out of the sand, a thought suddenly hit him.
"Nice to meet you too, Escardos-san." Ritsuka stood up, finally free from his sandy grave. "So uh… what are you doing out here in the desert?"
Such a question would likely cause a person to get defensive. After all, coming to the desert right after a battle between two Heroic Spirits was mighty suspicious. Of course, being in this desert at all was pretty suspicious. Ritsuka readied himself to talk to someone on edge and on guard.
"Oh, well, I was looking for you!" Flat stated, blowing every one of Ritsuka's expectations out of the water.
"For me? Why?" Ritsuka asked.
"Huh? Isn't it obvious?" Flat responded. "You just appeared out of thin air! That's really cool!" Ritsuka's eyes narrowed at Flat's words.
"I… appeared out of thin air?" He repeated, confused. "Y-you sure I didn't appear in a pillar of blue light?"
Flat shook his head. "Nope! You were just not there one second, and the next, you were!"
Ritsuka's brow furled as he listened to this. He never 'just appeared' anywhere before. There was always a telltale sign of Rayshifting whenever he went anywhere. He thought he might have just missed it due to how tired he was, but it seemed it just didn't happen at all.
So what happened?
"Does that mean you don't know how that happened to you?" Flat asked.
"No… that's… very different from usual." Ritsuka admitted. Flat leaned back as he heard Ritsuka's words.
"'From usual'? So, you do normally pop up in random places, just not without this blue light you talked about?"
"Yeah, yeah, basically." Ritsuka looked at Flat. "You know, you're taking this pretty well. I always expected the first time I told someone about 'the blue light' they'd just call me crazy."
"I mean, you did just appear out of thin air, a blue light isn't that much weirder." Flat pointed out.
"That… is a fair point I can't argue." Ritsuka conceded.
"So what are you doing here, Fujimaru?" Flat asked. "Are you going to join the Snowfield Grail War?"
"G-Grail War?" Ritsuka's eyes widened. "There's a Grail War going on?!"
"Yeah! Didn't you see the two Servants clashing right next to where you landed?"
"I mean, yeah, but that doesn't mean there's a Grail War going on. I just thought the World summoned them."
"Huh. I guess the World could have. Then again, maybe the Grail is just asking the World to lend them the Servants for the Grail War!" Flat randomly hypothesized excitedly. However, his voice suddenly switched to a more even tone on a dime. "But, if you're not in the Grail War, then why would you have Command Seals?"
"Huh? Oh, these." Ritsuka lifted up his right hand, revealing his three red Command Seals.
"Actually… they are a little different." Flat muttered as he reached out and poked Ritsuka's Command Seals. "A lot more… connections to them. Two hundred… no… three hundred?"
"I think it's close to four hundred now." Ritsuka stated almost automatically. He then realized something important "Wait… you can sense that?"
"Well, only because I'm trying to." Flat admitted. "It's kinda weird though. The connections' endpoints… they don't… seem to exist here."
"That makes sense. I'm pretty sure they'd all lead back to Chaldea."
"Chaldea?" Flat tapped his forehead. "Huh… why does that sound kinda familiar?" Flat tapped his forehead a little more before shrugging and swapping back to his more excitable tone. "Oh well, I'm sure I'll figure that out later!" Flat smiled at Ritsuka. "So, do you plan on joining the Grail War?"
"I… did not plan on that at all."
"Awww. Come on, it'll be fun! And, we can have an alliance!"
"Tempting, but no offense, I kinda wanna figure out why I'm here and if I can get home."
"Oh yeah, I guess that makes sense." Flat tapped his chin. "Maybe you could use the Grail to send you back home."
"Hmmm…" Ritsuka tilted his head as he thought about that. "That's… not the worst idea." Honestly, the only way he could get any better ideas was if he contacted Chaldea. An impossible task, seeing as he was dressed in his pajamas, and his communicator was left back in the last Mystic Code he wore.
Maybe he could convince Enkidu to help him win the Grail…?
"Do you have a place to stay?" Flat suddenly asked, bringing Ritsuka out of his thoughts.
"No… not at all."
"Hmm… that's not good." Flat suddenly grabbed Ritsuka's arm. "Well, why don't you come with me then?" He asked, not paying attention to Jack telepathically telling him this was a really bad idea.
"Huh? Really? Just like that?" While it was really nice of Flat to offer this, they barely talked for five minutes. And it wasn't like there was some world threatening thing forcing them to trust each other.
Either Flat was very kind or very confident, and Ritsuka didn't know him well enough to call it just yet.
"Well, sure!" Flat smiled. "I'm sure my professor would take in a harmless person that just appeared out of thin air! No reason for me not to follow his example!"
Ritsuka had a feeling deep down that Flat completely misinterpreted his professor's intentions and nature, whoever he was. Still, he wouldn't hurt Flat, and he needed a place to stay. There was no real reason not to take him up on his kind offer.
"Alright. I guess we're traveling together now. I hope we get along, Escardos-san."
"Ah, just call me Flat! Now let's go!" Flat pulled Ritsuka along, leading him towards the city once more. Ritsuka moved to keep pace. His only real hope was that there was a bed at their destination.
The two headed off towards the motel, both unaware of the helicopters flying towards the scene of the epic clash. Both didn't realize that this night of peace would be the last one they'd have for a long time.
A/N: Hey guys. It's me. I'm just gonna get ahead of the game here and point out what I believe will be the most controversial moment in this story. And that is Enkidu having a vague recollection of Chaldea, and by extension, Ritsuka.
Look, Enkidu's first interlude mentioned that they wished for their 'software' to be updated with the memories and take them back to the Throne. I thought that would be more interesting than pulling "Gilgamesh recognizes Fujimaru like in Starry Night."
And I am also going to apologize. I'm trying to keep this specific story on a weekly update basis, but I'm unsure if I sacrificed quality for this. I apologize if I did. I'm doing my best to write shorter chapters for these weekly updates, but it feels very weird. Even this chapter is similar in length to the last one, if not longer. I'll try my best guys. Please put up with me until then.
