Killing Pharaoh

'From the moment I saw him, I knew that he was not of this world.'

'Those eyes tell of history that predates ours. They echo a tale of unfathomable scale, something not even our greatest could hope to match. I watched him as he entered the room, and felt his majesty as he spoke to the people.'

'I saw them cower in fear at how he spoke directly to the Heavens, and when the Heavens responded to his words. My son could never dream of attaining such a height.'

'He did not need to prove anything to us. We are so far below him. I know now that it is his ambition that has fueled this movement by House Dramaour.'

'I do not know where he comes from, nor do I think I have the authority to know. Gilgamesh. Such a name... Oh... I fear for this world...'

'I fear for the Twelve.'

|Pharaoh-King Yehia's Thoughts As He Passes Into the Next Life|

Gilgamesh walked himself to the center of the room under the shocked, confused and outraged eyes of those present. Prince Heka was stunned to silence, and Princess Nailah leaned forward in her seat, genuinely interested.

"Your Majesties, just who is this?"

Prince Heka could not answer and King Yehia was wide-eyed and stunned, as if petrified, but Princess Nailah's glittery green eyes sparkled with realization.

"If my memory serves," Princess Nailah smiled, "this is the Young Master of House Dramaour."

When his identity was revealed to them, the people all disregarded Gilgamesh. They saw him as being of no importance at all.

"Hey, kid! This isn't some place you can come play make-believe, alright!?"

"Not even your old man would barge in here like this. Get lost, will ya?"

The King and his children were silent. Prince Heka was still hung up over what Gilgamesh had called him, and he fumed in silence for a while. Princess Nailah looked on.

Gilgamesh's placid expression never left him, and after a short while he turned to the people shouting at him.

"I came here expecting to meet with some well-mannered dogs, but even dogs would realize they need to stop barking by now."

This only served to make them even louder instead of shutting them up. A large number of them stood up from their seats and hurled all manner of words at Gilgamesh, despite him being a child of barely eleven years.

"I see that Logan Dramaour spoils his son. Let me take his place to teach you respect!"

A stocky man waddled out of his place and came walking across the tile toward the center, where Gilgamesh was. He undid his belt and prepared to whip Gilgamesh with it but, following one silver-eyed look from the eleven year-old boy, he was unable to move.

Those in the crowd saw Gilgamesh's eyes flash bright silver, and the man dropped to the floor just as the guards outside had. Just so, the man took his final breath.

Finally, silence reigned.

"So you all do know how to shut up. Wonderful."

Dozens of wide eyes stared at both Gilgamesh and the man on the floor. He had just been alive a second ago, but now he was lying flat on the ground, dead.

"What just happened," someone directed this question to no one in particular.

"This," Gilgamesh took it upon himself to demonstrate for the clueless individual. With another flash of his silver eyes, he reaped another soul.

The woman who had spoken dropped dead, this time in her seat. The people around her shrieked and yelped, trying desperately to get as far away from her corpse as possible. They fell over each other and filled the court with their fearful cries.

"Do all children struggle with keeping their mouth shut? Be quiet!" This time, Gilgamesh raised his voice slightly. Now thoroughly afraid, the unimportant parties all silenced themselves to the utmost. No one dared to even breathe too loud.

Satisfied somewhat, Gilgamesh turned away from the cowering crowd and faced the three people in front of him. His eyes lingered on Prince Heka and Princess Nailah, then finally landed on their father, King Yehia.

"Seeing as you are the one with the most authority, even if only in name, I shall address you first, Yehia."

Princess Nailah frowned, and Prince Heka finally opened his mouth to speak. "You will call him by his title, peasant."

Gilgamesh's expression remained the same, and his eyes never left King Yehia. He did not seem to have heard the prince at all.

"What do you have to say to my lowly self?"

Shockingly enough, King Yehia answered Gilgamesh despite his show of disrespect. Not only that, but he had referred to himself as lowly. This was no different than blatantly accepting a slap to the face!

Prince Heka turned to glare at his father, but instead saw his sister shaking her head. If their father knew better than to make a show of resistance, then it meant that there was something behind the scenes that they could not see. Only their father's eyes, as Pharaoh, could glean certain secrets.

Even so, Prince Heka could not just accept this.

"I am Gilgamesh, Son of Logan and Angelica of House Dramaour. I am Dramaour City's Acting Ambassador. You all," Gilgamesh paused to shoot a mocking glance at Prince Heka, "may refer to me as Lord."

To this, Prince Heka fumed even more, and was preparing to shout for the guards. However, the guards posted outside had all likely been killed. Since this was supposed to be a peaceful discussion within their own court, heavy security had been forfeited.

Grinding his teeth in silent rage, Prince Heka watched and listened.

To Gilgamesh, he was no more than a youngling, acting out.

"I am here to kill you. I simply wanted to see for myself what kind of people I would be leaving Eusia in the hands of. Your son is most incompetent, but your daughter has a nice look in her eye. It may be possible for her to better serve me than he will," Gilgamesh ended his statement with a mocking glance at Prince Heka.

King Yehia nodded, "I figured as much. The light in you- around you- it thirsts for death, but not any death."

Gilgamesh was intrigued, and pressed the King to continue.

"You crave the death of those in authority. Those with true power. Perhaps you wish to one day overthrow the Twelve-Head? If so, I can assure you that your goal will never be reached. They are simply too powerful for mortals to contend with- even one as spirited as yourself."

Gilgamesh laughed, and King Yehia soon realized where his thinking had gone off course. However, that was only after Gilgamesh spoke his next few words.

"Oi, gods. It seems I overestimated you. You haven't even started rallying the forces of your world against me? How stupid you must all be."

This time, not only were the unimportant bystanders shocked, but even the three members of the royal family were speechless. If this had been all, perhaps they could have labelled it as mere blasphemy, but then what followed circumvented every belief they had ever held.

The Heavens themselves seemed to open as incomparably devastating thunder rocked the sky and the world below. Only a fool would be clueless as to the source of this thunder; the Heavens had responded to this mortal.

This mere mortal warranted Heaven itself to respond to his words. When had this ever occurred before?

King Yehia fell back in his throne and felt the energy slowly being drained from him. Fear crippled his heart as it slowed to an undeniably unhealthy rate. Prince Heka and Princess Nailah were unable to even think for a while. That thunder had shaken them to their cores.

As for the fearful onlookers, most of them passed out. The ones that were strong enough to at least stay awake, were looking at the little boy in their midst as if he were a god.

In truth, this was not far off.

Only Gilgamesh had heard the words of the Twelve. To everyone else, it was simply thunder. Not even Pharaoh himself could hear those words; he was not permitted. No one was.

Gilgamesh did not respond to the Twelve. He did not care to, while they did not dare to ignore his words. This was a delicate situation for them, and they needed to be sure he did not suspect any of their plans.

"Yehia, I am going to kill you now." GIlgamesh's eyes glowed bright silver, and his spirit alone delivered a fatal blow to King Yehia's own spirit. However, unlike the others, King Yehia needed his spirit a lot less. As such, his life left him a lot slower, and he was granted a few moments before his life truly ended.

"Father!" Princess Nailah rushed to her father's side while Prince Heka simply watched. Judging by Gilgamesh's words, Princess Nailah was to become the new ruler of Eusia. He realized now that all his life's efforts had been in vain.

This monster of a child had come, and now he could do nothing. There was no hope for him anymore...

These thoughts robbed him of his thinking mind for quite some time. In that time, Gilgamesh had approached Princess Nailah. She wept silently for her father, but there was no hatred in her eyes, only sorrow. Perhaps that stemmed from the fact that they were only useless pawn in a much larger game; just helpless mortals in a battlefield of divine proportions.

She looked at Gilgamesh as he approached, and noticed the people behind him. Those that were still awake stared at King Yehia's body in disbelief. It was like a dream. Like a cruel, twisted nightmare of a dream.

This boy had come, silenced them, and killed their Pharaoh. Worse yet, the Heavens themselves recognized this boy as a threat. Why else would they treat him as an equal, while the rest of them could not get so much as a whisper from the Twelve?

"You have what it takes to serve me. I can see intelligence in your eyes, and that is one thing I admire in mortals. You will become Eusia's new leader, and when you are instructed you shall make your subservience to us known. I expect you know how to handle the insurgent populace. I do not care for your citizens, but if you do you will teach them as I have taught you all."

"Teach them... the fear of Gilgamesh."

After that, Gilgamesh returned home.

Princess Nailah held her father close to her, and remained silent. As for the others, the pressure that had been baring down on them suddenly vanished with Gilgamesh's departure. The ones that had passed out soon woke, and they eventually started to process the events of the last few minutes.

Subconsciously, they all looked to Princess Nailah, waiting for her to speak. It was clear to them that she would take the role of ruler, and that fact was indisputable. As Gilgamesh said, they had already been taught the fear of him.

Prince Heka finally snapped out of his stupor, finding himself incredibly dispirited. He sat down on the steps and looked back at his throne, finding himself unworthy to sit in it anymore. He, too, looked to his sister and awaited her words.

As she turned around, her blonde hair that had been stuck to her face was flung off. The black ankhs hanging from her earrings rocked back and forth. Finally, she stared at the people and sighed. Then, she cleared her throat.

"Our Pharaoh is dead, and the Twelve themselves have seen this. Gilgamesh has spoken, and if even the Heavens heed his words, then we have no choice but to do the same."

"Today, Eusia will begin to serve House Dramaour."

It was not that the people were surprised, but that it was simply an entirely different affair for Princess Nailah herself to say this. With these words, the reality finally, truly, settled in.

Their world was beginning to change, and it was all thanks to Gilgamesh. However, not all of these changes would be spurred on by him. Up above, the Twelve were making their moves, and very soon the full might of Heaven would be brought down.

Only, no one knew it.