The Little Servant Girl

Gilgamesh desperately poured more power into Samael, hoping to spark a change as he swung the blade out to meet those lights. On the contrary, the lights passed through the blade and lingered around Gilgamesh's body before shattering.

The instant they did so, Gilgamesh lost all sense of self. His vision faded to black, his hearing was cut off, and he could feel, smell and taste nothing- not even the saliva in his mouth.

He felt as though he had become formless, with nothing but his consciousness intact. This feeling was vaguely familiar to him, and as he pondered upon it he remembered the last time he had felt this was.

It was during the time where he had been dead, confined to Nether-Earth for trillions of years as a soul that would never be reincarnated.

'I guess I died again. How boring. Enkidu always did say that the consequences of my actions would catch up to me someday. This must be that day.'

'Sigh.'

In the eternal black, Gilgamesh prepared himself to be lost to it, once again, for a far longer time than he could keep track of. As he adjusted his consciousness to the change, he recalled the time he had spent with his parents, and with Ishtar.

He wondered if they would be luckier than he was, and be able to reincarnate and enjoy new lives. He found himself hoping that they could, and felt bitter that he could not have spent more time with them in this life.

His consciousness drifted toward nowhere. As he began to feel remorseful, an all-too familiar- and incredibly annoying- sensation reared its ugly head once again.

'Not again!'

The itching in the back of his mind was, now, far worse than it had ever been. It was an insufferable torment. Gilgamesh found himself trying to create a way to scatter his consciousness and put a swift end to his new afterlife, but he could not.

And the itching only worsened.

After a period of time that Gilgamesh was much too agonized to measure, the sensation took an entirely new approach. It not longer felt like itching, but like a pressure that grabbed hold of his very consciousness.

Then, with nothing he could possibly do to resist, Gilgamesh was forcibly shown something. The darkness gave way to an infinite sky, burdened with the light of countless stars, each demanding attention.

In the light of a bright blood moon, two smaller moons were silhouetted. This was a night sky that boasted a beauty that Gilgamesh had never before witnessed.

This was not the world he had previously been on, nor was it the World Beyond Heaven's Door. This was a world that felt limitless, as though the Heaven Gilgamesh knew had no power here whatsoever.

His vision blurred, and he was brought to a forest valley. Intermingled with the dense nature were hundreds of towers, spreading out across the entire area. Each of those towers was connected to a larger structure, and altogether made up a singular building.

Thousands, or perhaps millions of people dressed in similarly designed robes walked to and fro in this forest, travelling from tower to tower; place to place.

Gilgamesh's consciousness quivered upon seeing this place, almost as if it were on the verge of collapse.

At the far end of the valley, he saw a stone gate that rose into the infinite sky, seeming at though it could touch the distant stars. Carved on that gate were various characters that Gilgamesh did not recognize, shining dimly.

His vision blurred again, and he found himself looking down upon a little girl with pale skin, dirty hair and tattered robes. She was carrying a bucket filled with soapy water, struggling despite using both hands. A worn-out cloth was draped over her shoulder, and she hobbled around the place, wiping the tiles of the floor as she went along.

At times, people would pass by and walk right across the wet tiles she had cleaned, forcing her to have to clean them all over again.

Gilgamesh watched her struggle for hours trying to complete her task, and a hatred grew in his heart for the people that treated her that way.

His consciousness followed her until she was finished and returned to a courtyard somewhere within the massive structure. A middle-aged woman was sitting on a chair there, and several other girls in tattered clothes were kneeling before her on the cold floor.

"Took you long enough, Little Feather. Come kneel with your sisters so you can all start eating."

The girl put the bucket and cloth away before kneeling with the others, then they were served their food.

Gilgamesh was left in awe at the way the woman gave them their food. Following a gentle dance of numerous pink petals, bowls of rice and cups of water appeared in front of the girls.

They waited for the woman to give them the okay, and then they quickly ate their food.

"Little Groundhog, Little Rose, remember that Outer Disciple Viktor wished for you to visit him in his abode later tonight. Be sure to get yourselves cleaned up; I'll have dresses sent to you."

The two little girls she had just addressed became dejected, and they nodded with lowered heads and dark expressions.

"That will be all."

The woman stood up and entered the house behind her through the sliding screens. Once she was inside, the girls hurriedly scattered. The one Gilgamesh had been following around, Little Feather, ran off in the direction of the giant gate.

She was careful to avoid the people walking about, who Gilgamesh guessed were the 'Disciples' of that place.

She expertly maneuvered the tiled walkways and paths, and soon arrived at the gigantic gate that stood at the very front of the place. It was like a landmark denoting that the valley itself belonged to them.

'There is some kind of power in this gate, but I have never felt it power. Is it energy?' While he was studying the gate, the girl was running up to it.

She stopped to stare at the gate for a while, and even got close to one of the pillars. She was careful not to touch it, and she looked at the space under the arch with deep, sorrowful longing.

Gilgamesh saw her shedding tears, and felt himself yearning to comfort her.

Then, she ran from the gate and descended the hill. There were stairs just below the gate, but she did not seem to want to take them.

She ran down the somewhat steep hill and made her way through the grass before stepping onto a stone path. She followed this path all the way to a cemetery, and Gilgamesh marveled at the sheer number of gravesites he could see.

They were innumerable.

Little Feather ran through the cemetery until she came upon a grave all by itself. The tombstone was large, and there were some small tufts of grass growing up around it. Laid before the stone were some shriveled up flowers, beginning to decay.

Little Feather pulled out the weeds and removed the dried up flowers, then tossed them away. She reached into her robes and took out a new batch of flowers, then carefully placed them before the stone.

"I'm sorry, Big Brother. I haven't been able to come by these last few weeks. Keeper Yan had to ban us from wandering too far for a while ever since that yucky Outer Disciple Viktor caught sight of Sister Groundhog and Sister Rose."

Grabbing handfuls of her clothing, the girl knelt on the ground before the stone and fought back her tears.

"I know you're not really dead. I know you can hear me, and that you're doing your best to come home. I just wish..."

Gilgamesh finally saw her begin to sob, and his heart ached.

"I just wish... you hadn't left..."

Though he did not know who this girl was, his heart bled to see her crying. If he could, he would not hesitate to give her a big, comforting hug.

In that moment, he felt the tight grip on his consciousness begin to slowly loosen. He could feel himself slipping back into the darkness, and let out a sigh.

'Perhaps this is someone else's dream? Maybe it could even belong to the spirit sealed within Samael. Sigh. I have no idea why I was shown this, but it was far better than that eternal darkness.'

Prepared to go back, Gilgamesh gave the word around him one last look. As for the little girl, she was still sobbing with her face in the dirt, watering the weeds that were beneath the surface.

He chuckled to himself, like a doting parent, 'Silly girl. The grass will grow faster if you do that, and then you'll have even more to pull out next time.'

By now, he was already slipping away from this world, and the images he was being shown. Blotches of blackness were already obscuring his vision.

That was when he heard Little Feather take a big sniffle, and speak words that would rattle his brain henceforth

"Please come home, Big Brother Gilgamesh. Your Little Feather misses you."

'What...'

When Gilgamesh tried to look at the girl again, the images had already faded away. He was trapped in blackness again, however it was sightly different. He did not notice, however, as he was shocked to hear the little girl say his name.

'How does she know me? Who is she? What was that place?'

A muffled voice reached his ears, but he paid no attention to it as his mind spun in circles, trying to decipher an indecipherable puzzle.

'Who was she? How did she know my name? Agh! Why can't I remember anything!?'

The muffled voice that was calling out to him grew louder- loud enough to snap him out of his temporary insanity. He stared into the blackness, and only then did he realize that he was no longer in the afterlife.

He was within his own mind, meaning his spirit had been restored. Then, he heard the voice, much clearer this time.

"Gilgamesh, wake up!"

Gilgamesh jerked, and his body sat up in one swift motion. When his eyes opened, he saw Verdant gripping him by the shoulders.

Gilgamesh quickly looked around him, and saw Ishtar, Sylvia, Marshall and Crimson all laying on the floor, breathing but unconscious. His panic, upon being restored, instantly faded away.

Everything that did not matter instantly went to the back of his mind.

The Beast was in the exact same position, looking down at Gilgamesh with empty eyes. However, its aura was clearly perturbed and unsettled at the sight of Gilgamesh standing up again.

"Impossible!"

Its gaze immediately settled on Verdant, and wrathful energy exploded out of its body, taking the shape of terrifying, chilling winds.

Gilgamesh and Verdant stood before the beast, with the bright green light at their backs. Chuckling, Gilgamesh offered up his first words since he had woken up.

"What a fucking idiot. Obviously it's not impossible if it just happened."