Daughter (Long Chapter)

Florence took a deep breath, and continued stuffing scrolls into the storyline.

After hearing what she was looking for, Gilgamesh was silent. He did not know enough about Florence to judge her for her goal. He still had no idea how she had suffered.

He did not know enough about her, and for some reason his perfect mind was unable to reveal much of her to him. So, all he could do was think about the image of the woman he saw.

He had seen it a while before, back when he had met Dorian. Back then, he though it was either the Mother of Scriptures of The Scripture, but now he was doubting that.

There was something here that he was not seeing, and it all boiled down to whatever it was that Florence was not telling him.

So.... he had no choice...

"Can you explain something to me?" He asked, seeming hesitant.

Florence did not stop feeding scrolls to the storyline, but she acknowledged him with a 'Mhm.'

There was a knowing tone in her voice that made Gilgamesh smile wryly and laugh sheepishly before he cleared his throat and remembered himself.

"What are you? Who are you? Really."

Florence smirked as she scoffed, and shook her head. "Heh. I saw that coming."

Gilgamesh stepped forward, realizing that there were actually no natures at his feet. He was able to walk along the blackness, without any external help, and there did not seem to be any explanation for it.

It just happened.

"I know you don't want to talk about it- I can't blame you for that- but I think I need to know. Before you tell me, though, there's something I have to tell you."

Florence's brow raised.

"When I first met Dorian-"

"Ugh!" Florence gagged.

Gilgamesh broke out into soft laughter before shaking it off and continuing. "When I first met him, I saw a series of images. I assumed it was The Scripture forcing me to see things, but after the same thing happened a few times, I realized that it's actually a result of my perfect mind."

"It seems able to reach out into places that don't exactly exist, and show me things that I don't understand. One of those things... was a woman."

Florence frowned. "This isn't one of those 'I saw you in a dream and have been in love with you since,' things, is it? Don't go saying we're meant to be or shit like that."

Gilgamesh chuckled, "It's nothing like that. The woman I saw wasn't you. It was a woman with paper for hair, being written on by a bunch of hands."

"I saw her the first time I saw Dorian, and I saw her again when I first saw you. Then, once again when I was trying to use my 'perfect mind' to understand you. That makes three times in total, and it's bothering me like crazy."

Florence was wide-eyed, and she momentarily stopped feeding scrolls to the storyline. "You... are you sure that's what you saw?"

Gilgamesh paused for a moment before nodding uncertainly, "Uh, yeah..."

She shook her head, and then went back to feeding scrolls to the storyline. "That's crazy. I don't know what kind of creative magic she put into you, but the kind of perfection you are is something else. To think you saw the truth all the way back then, before you even knew me."

"It's like your mind itself was guiding you. Showing you the way."

Suddenly she turned and gaze Gilgamesh a puzzled look. "Now I'm curious. How did you manage to find the Omniverse I'd entered?"

Gilgamesh stammered a bit, "Uh- I- W-well..."

"I actually was just walking through the Library, minding my business. When I saw a Book Collection that seemed.. dimmer... than the others, I thought it was weird."

"Haha! What the fuck were you even doing walking through the Library? That's so weird." Florence wiped an amused tear from her eye.

Gilgamesh gasped. "Actually... Now that you mention it... I almost forget."

"I think you might be right."

Florence flashed a teethy smile, and her efficacious smile almost stumped Gilgamesh with its desirable charm. "About you being weird? I know. No one in their right mind just decides to walk into an infinite sky."

"Huh?" Gilgamesh frowned. "No, no, not that. I mean about my mind guiding me to you."

"Before I left the starting ground, I felt like something was calling out to me. In fact, ever since I saw the Book Collection you destroyed, I was getting that feeling. That was why I decided to walk into the sky. That was what I followed in order to get to you."

"Ohh..." Florence nodded. "Is this the part where you say we're meant to be, 'cause, honestly, I might be inclined to start believing you after that."

Gilgamesh scoffed, noticing that she had fed all of the bronze and silver scrolls to the storyline. All that remained were the golden ones, with hearts that beat powerfully.

"Now I'm even more certain that you have to tell me what's going on. If nothing else, I need to know why I was led to you. I need to know why my mind- perfect or otherwise- felt like you were what I needed to find."

Listening up to here, Florence's joking smile faded. She became solemn as she took hold of the first gold scroll, and she seemed to consider feeding it to the storyline before she stopped.

She shot a glance at Gilgamesh, sucked her teeth, and groaned. "Fine. I'll tell you what I know for sure."

Sighing in relief, Gilgamesh thanked her for understanding.

"Yeah, yeah." She stuffed a gold scroll into the storyline, and Gilgamesh got closer to her.

"From what I've managed to figure out, I was created within her domain-- or wherever it is that she spends all her time."

"That room with the fairies," Gilgamesh pointed out.

"Yeah. My earliest memories are of me in that room with her, before she had the fairies and before she had even written anything. I was there with her, and she showed me everything."

"There was no Library back then, so I was able to see how it was created. I was able to see how her power works, and I was also able to see how easily she could create and destroy entire stories. Lives are toys to her, and I don't think it's possible for her to see them any other way."

"I think I was created in much the same way. Whatever happened in the process of my creation changed who I was before, and she made me into what she wanted me to be. I believe she twisted my body and soul-- my memories and everything else."

Gilgamesh narrowed his eyes, carefully probing, "And what did she want you to be?"

Florence took a moment, and put some more gold scrolls into the storyline. By now, it was a white-hot kind of color and almost blinding. With each gold scroll, the rest of the storylines began to light up as well, just the same.

More and more lines lit up with the addition of those gold scrolls. Eventually, every storyline would be emitting that intense light.

"She wanted a daughter, and that's what I am. She created a daughter for herself, not like the fairies that are just favorable souls she handpicks from her stories. I think she did something else when she created me, and that's why I can't remember anything."

"She didn't want me to know what happened during that process. She didn't want me to know how I was created."

Gilgamesh took a sharp breath, and he felt his mind begin to shift some ideas around. Before he could even ask anything, Florence continued.

"As for the woman with the hair made of paper and all that shit, that's an entirely different story. I'm not entirely sure of it all myself, but, I know that whenever I use my inherent nature, that woman appears."

"So the woman is your inherent nature?" Gilgamesh folded his arms, beginning to see the clearer picture.

At least, he was.

"There's that, and the fact that the woman... is me."

"Huh?" He blinked.

"That woman is also... the spirit of the Library..."

This time, he just opened his mouth but had no words to say.

"After... some stuff happened... she forced a bond between the Library and myself. There's no way for me to ever get back to her domain, since I'm now eternally tied to the Library. At least I came to understand the Library better than anyone, even her."

Gilgamesh scoffed in disbelief, his breath escaping him as his breathing gradually quickened.

"So... as punishment... she tied your soul to the Library, forcing you to become it?"

Florence bit down softly on her lip, "Pretty much. Even though she created 'the Library,' she doesn't really understand it completely. The same can be said for a small number of her creations."

"She creates things that are meant to act in unison with her, as if she doesn't realize that she's granting them the power to act independently of her. Just like The Scripture... Dorian... eugh... and, well, you."

Gilgamesh nodded, "The rock she can't move... I get it. But why would she create beings like us? Doesn't she ever feel threatened?"

"Psh! Her!? Threatened!? Never!" Florence almost broke out into a laugh at the absurdity of the thought. Gilgamesh was taken aback.

"I'm sure she thinks that she can just rewrite everything if she wishes. She's probably not wrong, but still. Her inflated ego and sense of power just makes it impossible for her to feel things like fear and respect."

"She doesn't care about what we can potentially do to her. All she cares about is what we can potentially do for her."

Gilgamesh seemed to grasp the concept of it, as he himself had been a slave to arrogance once.

"She's bored. All she cares about, in the end, is entertainment. By extension, her inherent nature goes against her, acting against her best interest, thus ultimately doing things that will lead to her being entertained more and more."

"It all comes back to what she desires in the end, doesn't it? She always get what she wants, and no one can stop her..."

"Isn't that what being 'God' is all about."

Florence's expression turned sour as she prepared to feed the final few golden scrolls to the storyline. The entire layer of the Library was filled with white light, indicating that the creative energy of the stories was reaching a climax.

With those final scrolls, Florence would be able to direct all of that energy into the Story, in an attempt to find the answer she sought.

"She's something else, that God." Gilgamesh frowned.

"Hmph. She's as good as dead once I see my past. If I rediscover that, I can use it as a foothold to sever myself from the Library once and for all. Then, once I'm free of it, I can go back to her domain and give her the best entertainment she'll ever get."

Gilgamesh gave her a look, as though he was looking at a crazy person. "You don't actually think you can win, do you?"

In response, Florence smiled brightly. "Don't forget, she created me to be her daughter. There are some perks that come with that identity."

"I see..." Gilgamesh pondered for a bit, but he soon remembered that the answer would not come to him.

Florence fed the last of the gold scrolls to the storyline, and then took a few steps back. Aside from the light becoming much too bright, nothing else seemed to be happening.

"What now?" Gilgamesh clasped his hands, looking around.

"I... don't exactly know. The storylines are supposed to reject creative energy and return it to me, then I can use it to draft a story that explains everything to me: My creation, and everything that went into the process."

Gilgamesh gave a slow nod; Florence returned the gesture and folded her arms behind her. As they waited in awkward silence, Gilgamesh heard a strange sound.

"Did you hear that?"

Florence shook her head, and her foxy ears twisted a few times. "I don't hear anything."

Gilgamesh shut his eyes and focused, and his ears picked up another odd sound. "There it is again."

Florence listened before groaning, "Don't tell me you've also got perfect ears-"

"Shhh!" Gilgamesh put a finger over her lips, silencing her as he shut his eyes and continued to listen.

Florence was clearly annoyed, but she closed her eyes and listened with him. Eventually, she heard a faint sound, like the isolated sound of thunder, contained with a room of echoes.

There was a scratching sound that followed it, like a eerie aftertaste of sound. Gilgamesh had picked it up before she could, and as it got louder she was slowly beginning to hear it.

"What is that?"

BOOM!

The sound grew much louder just like that, and the entire layer of the Library began to tremor. There was no concept of space here, but cracks appeared everywhere, and the storyline began to flash a variety of bright colors.

Red, green, yellow, blue, purple and white lights danced across the storylines, coming and going in waves. At the most intense points, the tremors would return and the booming sound would return with a vengeance.

Florence hurriedly looked to the storyline next to her in alarm, "Shit! I have to get the energy out!"

Gilgamesh moved with her, and they both came to stand before the storyline. "I thought it was supposed to reject it on its own! What's all this about!?"

Florence snorted coldly, "I don't fucking know man! Just help me!"

Gilgamesh growled, "How the fuck am I even supposed to do that!?"

Standing there staring at the storyline that seemed ready to blow, Gilgamesh and Florence shot each other a glance before placing both their hands on it. Instantly, their bodies were assaulted by rampant, wild creative energy.

It wrought havoc in their bodies and tried to reshape them into completely different beings entirely. Florence felt what it was trying to do, and immediately let go of it. "Shit!"

"What's wrong!?" Gilgamesh asked as the thunderous, all-encompassing sound echoed once again.

"It's trying to rewrite me. I'm an artificial creation, so if I expose myself to too much of this energy, I'll lose my biggest advantage!"

Gilgamesh was about to let go when Florence shouted excitedly, "But you won't! Unlike me, you're no longer artificial! You perfected yourself, didn't you!? So you can act as a proxy for me."

"What do you mean!?"

Florence grabbed Gilgamesh's arms that were touching the storyline, and she laughed maniacally. "You touch the storyline, and I manipulate her creative energy! It's the perfect method!"

"Hahahaha! You really are Mr. Perfect, aren't you!? BWAHAHAHA!!!"

Gilgamesh shook his head at her crazed laughter, then tightened his grip on the storyline. "Let the energy come. No matter how bad it feels, just remember that you aren't being affected!"

"Okay!" Gilgamesh nodded firmly, and stopped resisting the energy. It flowed into him through his arms, and rampaged throughout his body. He could feel his organs shift, his blood begin to flow in reverse and an unspeakable type of pain.

He could sense that something was changing within him, but he did not doubt Florence's words. Whether it was because he trusted her, or because he trusted in himself and his perfection, he wasn't exactly sure.

Gritting his teeth and taking the pain, he felt Florence's hands move from his arms to his hands, and then inch a bit closer to his fingers. She was getting as close to the storyline as she could.

Gilgamesh felt another surge of energy, and this time his spirit wavered. At that moment, he let out a roar and fought to keep it alive, not even realizing that he had already gone through a significant change.

Just the fact that his spirit began to waver would have alerted him to this change, but his focus was elsewhere.

Florence let out a yell, "Bear with it just a little while longer!"

One hand moved from Gilgamesh's hand and touched his chest, then she gave a roar of her own. "This is it!"

The energy in Gilgamesh's body simmered, then gathered into one place. All the light of the storylines vanished, surging through one another like veins before entering Gilgamesh's body.

All of it.

The lines dimmed until they were just as they had been in the beginning, then Florence's hold on Gilgamesh got tight. With all her power, she took hold of the energy within Gilgamesh and then brough it under her control.

Finally, she sent it back out into the Story.

In that moment, both their minds were hijacked by the Story. Florence had already imprinted her desire on the creative energy, and so the Story began to act on her behalf.

It scoured its own memory, finding the moment in history that Florence was searching for. Once it did, both Gilgamesh and Florence were shown a vision.

A vision that would change everything...

_________________________

The carriage rattled unsteadily.

Inside it, a woman wrapped in numerous pieces of fabric clutched at the sides in order to steady herself. She let out a soft groan before shouting to the person driving.

"Lector! If you drive us into one more rough patch, I'll kill you and drive myself!"

A panicked voice spoke from the outside, "Sorry, Mistress. I'll do my best."

The woman pulled at the veil on her face and sucked her teeth, irate but calm. "You better."

She rubbed at her stomach, and pulled at the fabric that was wrapped tightly around it. Her stomach bulged under it; she was pregnant.

The carriage moved smoothly along the road, until it finally came to a stop.

"We're here, Mistress."

Sighing, she stood up and walked to the door. By the time she got there, the driver, Lector, had opened it. The outside was bright, and in her vision his appearance was obscured.

The next thing she saw was an impressively massive building, standing taller than any castle one could imagine. It was a marvel of architecture.

At the front of it, atop the arches and between the pillars, a word was engraved in the stone.

'Library.'

The woman removed her veil, and revealed a rosy face, with numerous freckles on her cheeks. Her hair was wild, curly, and fiery red, with two foxlike ears peeking out from under the mess of it.

She possessed a set of orange eyes that seemed to reject the light of the sun, and emit a light of their own. 

She rubbed her stomach, and started walking to the Library, speaking to the unborn child within her. "Come now, Florence, darling. There's a lot I must prepare you for."

After that vision, a series of other visions flashed by.

The woman was sitting within a room. The carpet floor seemed to be a minuscule world at her feet, and above her were beautiful purple clouds.

She sat on the landscape of the vast, tiny world beneath her, holding a baby girl in her hand. "You'll see, Florence. You'll understand everything one day."

After that, yet another vision flashed by.

The woman was arguing with a teenage Florence, and the girl was shouting back at her.

"You aren't allowed to go into the stories ever again! If you can't even cast aside your feelings for those... those things! If you can't do that, then you'll never have what it takes!"

"You can't stop me! I'm going to make it right, even if you punish me!"

The woman gnashed her teeth, "Argh! Just shut up and do as I say!"

"Never! Go ahead and punish me if you want, but I'll save them regardless!"

"You!" The woman's eyes narrowed into a ferocious glare. "You think you know of punishment! Fine then. I'll show you what a real punishment is!"

She grabbed the young Florence by her hair and dragged her off, creating a portal and taking her somewhere.

That was the last image.

_______________________________

Gilgamesh and Florence opened their eyes, seeing that they were still connected to the storyline.

He looked at her, and she looked at him.

"That was..." Gilgamesh tried to speak, but the words vanished in his throat.

Florence's eyes were reddened, and already wet with tears. She said nothing, but slapped Gilgamesh's hands out of the way.

Immediately, she gripped the storyline tightly and recalled all of the creative power she had sent out. From the furthest reaches of the storylines, white light came surging back at her.

Gilgamesh heard her sniffle, and shut his mouth.

The power came flooding into her, and she coughed as more and more tears fell. She sniffled again, and suddenly shouted, "Come on! Do it!"

"DO IT!!! CHANGE ME!!!"

Florence started sobbing, but as the last of the creative energy filled her body, she realized that the change would never come.

She was worried that the creative energy within her would erase her artificial identity as the Mother of Scriptures' Daughter, thus taking away her advantage in the eventual fight against her. 

...

Now, she realized that her identity was not artificial at all. The reason why she could remember nothing before her moments within God's domain... was because she was not yet born before that.

She was God's daughter. She really was the daughter of the Mother of Scriptures. Not even the creative energy within her could change that.

All Florence could do, was bawl her eyes out. Mucus ran from her nose and onto her lips, and she clutched at her hair and ears, as if she hated that she looked so much like her mother. 

She turned to Gilgamesh, and he finally saw her broken face.

"Please... kill me..."

Gilgamesh did his best to maintain his composure, but in the end he folded and wrapped his arms around her, burying her face in his chest.

Florence wept, not showing any signs of ever stopping. She cried as if her world had crumbled to dust and ended right in front of her- which, it had.

Gilgamesh did not know what to do beyond holding her, but he thought of what she had asked him to do.

"No... I will not."

𝘌𝘯𝘥 𝘰𝘧 𝘝𝘰𝘭𝘶𝘮𝘦 4