The full title of this story is The Grim Adventures of Victoria Bloom and Despereaux in the World of the Dead (And the Tale of One Aspiring Age-Regressed KND Operative), but I had to trim it down to fit into the character limit (you can find it at its full title over at AO3). As it promises; there's The Grim Adventures of Billy & Mandy, Eyes in the Dark: The Curious Case of One Victoria Bloom (a rogue-lite platformer you may or may not know, or maybe even played), The Tale of Despereaux, and Codename: Kids Next Door in there; and plus there's stuff from Disney/Pixar's Cars and the failed Cartoon Network pilot A Kitty Bobo Show (which came in second place in the Big Pick that Codename: Kids Next Door won). All that being said, I hope you enjoy this story, and please leave comments and reviews! I'll get the second chapter up as soon as I can!

Uruk, Sumer
2834 BC

The sun rose early in the sky, ready to begin a new day over the city. People were setting up shop, doing chores, preparing goods for shipping, and preparing to worship the deities at the ziggurats, among other things. They began to walk up and down the streets of the city, awaiting anything interesting that would be coming their way-an unpredictable flood, a change in the laws, a new artwork, anything that would upend their daily life. This was a new day in their lives, especially for some who worked (or would work) in the business of connecting the people with the deities.

Among these people were a man in his late twenties and a girl of six years, named Namluh and Meshara respectively. They were walking through the streets early in the day to find the necessities for the days and weeks to come, and potentially buy some artwork from the market it was sold in. Meshara looked around for something fun, looking bored, while Namluh tried to pique her interest in the various things at the market, including a pot depicting Gilgamesh and Enkidu battling an opposing group in the fields. "Look at this pot. It tells a poem of Gilgamesh and his exploits aorund his kingdom with his friend Enkidu! Don't you love those stories?"

"I do, but I really want to see them in action, don't you?"

"I do too, and it'd be really exciting if that happened, but a lot of the tales didn't happen in real life even though Gilgamesh was a real king of this place. So we won't be seeing them happen."

Namluh's words hit Meshara in the heart like an arrow. His young ward looked crestfallenly at him, with tears welling up in her bluish brown eyes. "They...aren't real? We won't see Gilgamesh and Enkidu? We can't fight with them and explore lands far and beyond?" she asked, trying not to cry.

"No. We won't. It just won't happen, not soon, not ever. But you can dream about them and then you'll have some great adventures with them, maybe even exploring the heavens and the underworld. Those'll be fun for you now, won't they?"

"Yes, they will, I guess. But I can't have them here on Earth," she burst out, with a few tears spilling out of her ocular orbs. Her guardian leaned down and pulled her into his arms, wiping away her tears with part of his kanauke. He gave her some words of comfort, reassuring her that Gilgamesh and Enkidu would be able to meet her in her imagination and her dreams even if their tales weren't real. After a few minutes, she began to stop sniffling and smile a little, looking up at the sun in the sky. Namluh directed her gaze elsewhere in the sky, warning her that her eyes would be ruined if she looked straight at the sun for too long, and reassuring her that she would still be able to see hope up above. "When will I get to go up there and see Gilgamesh and Enkidu?"

"You'll get to see them when you're dead, or even earlier, if you want to be an emissary to the other worlds."

"What's an emissary?" asked Meshara to her guardian.

"It's someone sent to speak on behalf of another person, a group, a country, or similar," he responded, putting his hand on her shoulder. "Being one to the underworld and the heavens is a very important job, Meshara. It helps get us all the things we need to be here, most importantly health and wealth, through cooperation with the gods and goddesses. But these deities can also bring disaster and disease, so we have to be careful not to displease them, or this city will be brought to ruins. An emissary will go and make agreements with the deities in order to avert disaster and to seek the means to spare their nation from being destroyed. Great emissaries have character, bravery, integrity, and a great strong will to serve their people and the pantheon. Remember that now."

"I will," Meshara said, a smile fully forming on her face and her eyes sparkling at Namluh as they continued browsing the booths. They went and grabbed some things off the tables, sniffed food to see if it was good, looked at artwork that seemed interesting, and completed their purchases with the vendors. Meanwhile, in another part of the market, an old man with a white beard was rushing in the direction of one of the ziggurats, worrying about being late for the worship service, which the girl could see in his eyes. On his way out, however, he dropped a piece of cuneiform on the ground.

She rushed over towards the piece, picked it up, and ran after him. "Come back! You dropped this piece!" she cried as they ran across the market.

Namluh noticed this and started to run after her, grabbing his and his ward's goods. "Meshara, come back! We still have some shopping to finish!" But she continued running after the man with the cuneiform piece.

The three of them ran through the streets, up and down hills, and across bridges, Namluh dropping some of the items in his hands, eventually reaching the ziggurat the old man was heading towards. They climbed up the ramp to the top of the structure, and the old man entered the sanctuary, all out of breath. Meshara snuck into this sanctuary with the cuneiform in her hand, quietly walking around and looking the old man. After a while, she finally found him. "Here, you...you dropped this when you were running."

The old man turned around and screamed in shock. When he regained his composure, he told her, "thank you for returning it...but please. Get out...of this sanctuary. It's not for ordinary people like you."

"Why?"

"It's where the pantheon lives, and they don't like mortals interfering with their visit. Now please get out."

"All right." Meshara exited. When she did, she saw her guardian standing over her, upset about what just happened. "Why...did you enter the sanctuary...against the gods' orders?"

"I...that man dropped the piece, and I wanted to give it back to him."

"I know, but we still can't enter that sanctuary."

"But I...I just wanted to be nice and give that piece back to him." She started tearing up again, her eyes looking down at the ground. "I'm really sorry."

"I understand you, Meshara," Namluh said calmly, "and that's very nice of you to return the piece. I appreciate you wanting to be kind and help others, but this sanctuary is a very sacred place, and we can't enter it because we're commoners, not high priests like this man. His name is Namkuzu, and it's his job to talk to the gods and goddesses so we can get everything we need for the day, like the things we got from the market." He leaned down, deposited the items on the floor, and put his hand under Meshara's chin so she could look at his short-bearded face. "Let me explain my point to you, Meshara. I want to commend you for your kindness and your intention to do the right thing. Namkuzu probably needs that piece for the upcoming ritual, and I admire your efforts to give it back to him. But this sanctuary is forbidden to commoners like us, and it might have irritated the deities inside, which could've made them refuse to give us these things if it'd gone on longer. When that happens, it could lead to ruin, disaster, famine, and other horrible things if they're angry enough. You have to understand that the gods and goddesses don't like those without their approval disrupting their official business, which is very important to Namkuzu's job as a high priest and an emissary to both the heavens and the underworld. If any of that happens, he might also lose his livelihood like we might lose ours, which thankfully didn't happen, but if it did we'd be stuck on an endless path leading us nowhere in our lives. Now think, Meshara: what did Gilgamesh do when Enkidu was put to death?"

"He...he...he started to cry," his ward responded, trying to prevent her eye dams from bursting. "and he couldn't stop for seven days and seven nights. He was also afraid of his own death, so he gave up his kingly garments for animal skins and began a search for eternal life."

"Quite correct. And he kept searching on and on and on for Utnapishnim, hoping he'd be able to tell him how he could avoid death. When he finally found the man, he asked him how he could do it, and what did Utnapishnim tell him?"

"Ummm...that he could do it if he stayed awake for a whole week?" she asked, tears spilling from her eyes.

"Also correct. And did he do it?"

"No, he fell asleep."

"Good answer. Now before Gilgamesh left, Utnapishnim's wife convinced him to get a plant that could restore and make youth last longer. Did Gilgamesh succeed in obtaining it?"

"Yes, and he planned to share it with his city's elders."

"Yes, but also no. A snake came and took it from him while he was being careless, leaving Gilgamesh empty-handed and having failed to get what he sought. So he decided to accept mortality and live his life to the fullest, like we must aspire to do. Our time on Earth is short, Meshara, and we won't be able to achieve immortality like Utnapishnim, so we have to do our best and find what's best for us and our society, like Namkuzu is doing. There's a lot of time ahead of you, my good Meshara, and there'll be hundreds of chances for you to do the right thing. If Gilgamesh were here to see this, what would he say?"

"He'd tell me to stay out of the sanctuary, and avoid repeating the same mistakes he made. He'd also give me praise for my efforts to be kind to others, and encourage me to do whatever good I can with whatever time I have," she said, starting to smile through her tears.

"That's a good assessment, my studious little Meshara. That truly is. You will make mistakes in your life, and no one is perfect; but you have to remember to be your best and avoid making the same ones over and over; and respect the deities, the people, and yourself. You're still very young, and you've got many years ahead of you. Going into the sanctuary is only allowed for people like Namkuzu and our rulers, like I've said before, and the gods and goddesses might become irritated if anyone enters against their will. I admire your kindness and compassion, but you have to make the effort to avoid making that same mistake again." He used his kanauke to wipe Meshara's tears again. "It will take time to know it by heart, but you have to continue trying and doing it. I know you're a really good person, and I have faith in you, so remember that now." He hugged her again, and she hugged back. She started to look up at the sun again, but remembering her guardian's words, looked at another spot in the sky. Just then, a few people came up to them with their goods Namluh had dropped.

"Excuse me, you dropped these while you were running earlier."

"Thank you."

"I also want to compliment your daughter for her kindness today."

"Actually, she's my ward, but I still love her like my daughter. It got us into a little trouble with the gods, but other than that, I talked it through with her and we'll all be fine."

"Yes, we will. I'm excited for her to go wherever she wants to in life, maybe being a vendor, or a judge, or even an emissary to the pantheon."

And this talk went on for several minutes, until Namluh said to Meshara, "Now, let's finish our shopping, Meshara, shall we?"

"Yes. Let's do it! I'm so excited to see Gilgamesh and Enkidu and all the gods and goddesses!"

"I bet you are! Remember, just keep working hard until you reach your dream!" he encouraged. His ward looked up at a cloud in the sky, thinking about the heavens where Gilgamesh and Enkidu must be residing, and all the adventures she'd have with them while performing her duties. She thought about the wind and water of Enlil and Enki, the souls led by Ereshkigal in Kur, the sun and the moon of Utu and his father Nanna, and the descent of Inanna into the underworld, and all the effort she'd have to make to get there. Regardless, she was ready to put the work into it, aspiring to do good and live a full life of self-improvement, and tackling whatever challenges lay her way. From there, an emissary was born.