The Divine Ones' Ploy

"But wasn't Anu trapped in the minor dimension because he acquired that power? Why am I not cursed with the same fate... Oh!"

"Tch! Shut up! I never said this story was about you or Anu!"

Gilgamesh paused, unsure of how to proceed.

"Sigh. As you just realized, the reason you were allowed to acquire the power and not be punished was because the foolish exile traded it for your fate. The Old Power jumped at an opportunity to aid you without breaking the rules, and thus did not hesitate to make you fateless."

"When it did so, this minor universe's foundation of fate cracked. It being an incomplete realm meant it did not have the structural stability to house the fateless. It would soon begin to collapse. Once again, though, because you were fateless, certain liberties could be taken."

"Certain actions could be taken to help pave the road for you, which would not be considered breaking the rules, since you no longer possessed fate."

Gilgamesh could understand this, and so he nodded and just continued to listen.

"That is why you were allowed to acquire the natures of the Old Power, Obscure Spark and Endless Cycle. However, it has nothing to do with my interest in you."

"I have never liked the fateless. My inability to see their truths has always irked me, and so I have always adjusted truth to make life as hard as I could for them. I did the same for you, until I came to understand something about you that I could not gleam from any other fateless."

"I could see it in you because, unlike the others, you had no idea that you were favored by three of the Divine Ones. When you did find out that your fate was stolen, you were foolish enough to seek to reclaim it, something none of the fateless would ever do."

"You surprised me, and reminded me that not all fateless are necessarily the same. There are infinite circumstances and scenarios, an endless possibilities, after all. Still, you are the first." 

"If you had been allowed to reclaim your fate, you would never have been allowed to acquire the natures you now possess. You would have been cursed to a mundane life for all eternity."

Gilgamesh sighed, "Maybe that wouldn't have been too bad..."

Truth's Mind said nothing about his comment.

"As you now know, the Divine Ones decided to be more direct in their approach once you became fateless. They granted you blessings in the form of masteries, meaning you have now acquired three natures of true energy which you can cultivate in. As for a proper cultivation method, well, perhaps that will come in time."

"It is something we are not allowed to give to you."

"We?" Gilgamesh probed.

"Yes. I am going to give you my blessing. A new nature of true energy. With it, you will command the power of Truth's Mind within this minor universe. Whatever you choose to do with it is up to you."

"What about Anu?"

"The exile is still here, though he is grasping hold of natures from the outside that are slipping through the cracks in the void. Instead of assimilating your fate and tying it to his own, he created a new soul for himself and tied your stolen fate to that instead. Using that new soul, he can manifest your fate and use it to escape."

"If you wish to prevent that, then I suggest you put an end to him swiftly. However, there is something that you must do for us first."

When he heard this, Gilgamesh's eyes narrowed.

"Now that the exile has given up the power, we do not care what happens to him. However, you wish to exact your revenge upon him, and you can only do so because four of the Divine Ones favor you and blessed you with power."

"In return, we ask that you take this opportunity to destroy the power that lies dormant within you. You no longer need it, as it will only sully your divine inheritance. Using the power of Truth's Mind that I will grant you, promise that you will destroy it."

Gilgamesh smirked immediately upon hearing this, "Is that all? Of course I'll destroy it. Something that Anu sought after can't be anything good at all, can it?"

Truth's Mind chuckled, "It seems we underestimated your hatred for the exile."

"By the way, why is he called the exile?"

"That's because he is someone that possessed the nature of a power that the Divine Ones personally erased. We can erase powers that are inferior to us as we see fit, but we cannot actively destroy those connected to such powers, so we choose to exile them."

"They are sent to exist in complete isolation and solitude, somewhere that no power can ever thrive. This particular exile was just lucky; he was exiled to a space much too close to the mystic realm where that erased power once thrived."

"This mistake caused him to reach out to the remnant traces of the erased power, and he was able to escape and use his nature to restore it. It was a gross oversight on our part, something I'm sure you can understand."

Truth's Mind was referring to Gilgamesh's own mistakes in the past, and a peculiar light flashed in Gilgamesh's eyes.

"I see. Well, now that that's over and done with, let's get to work destroying that power. Shall we?"

"Yes."

Truth's Mind acted, and the whiteness of the world around Gilgamesh was drained completely, before entering his consciousness and, henceforth, his body.

He did not possess the system within this space, as it was not a core part of his soul and did not truly belong to him. Even so, he knew that he had acquired a new nature. He had acquired what he was sure the system would call, 'Knowledge of Truth's Mind.'

"Perfect inheritance. Now, you alone command the power of Truth's Mind within this collapsing minor universe."

"Wonderful," Gilgamesh laughed and shifted his sitting position.

"Now then, I will direct you in locating the power within you. It is a type of true energy, and sensing true energy is the first step in cultivation, so I guess you could say that this is similar to giving you an incomplete cultivation method. However, this should be totally acceptable."

Gilgamesh smirked, but there was a knowing look in his eyes, as if a suspicion had been confirmed. "I see. Please advise, Truth's Mind."

"Very well. First, I need you to coat yourself in all four natures. Once you do that, take your time to feel out the exact location within yourself that the true energy is spilling out from. Once you can do that, you should be able to locate your sea of energy."

Gilgamesh closed his eyes, coated himself in all his four natures, and did his best to locate his sea of energy. It was a new kind of process for him, since he was no longer using his spirit to look at his spiritual body, but using his consciousness to look at a metaphysical part of himself.

However, he was soon able to do so.

When Gilgamesh found his sea of energy, he was shocked. Firstly, he saw Samael in there, although it was supposed to be within the system's storage space.

"Ah yes, Samael. That sword was created specifically as a gift for you, and so it has never truly left your side."

Nodding, Gilgamesh looked at the other strange phenomena within his sea of energy. Aside from a sea of violent water that was split into four sections, there were also four different images hovering in the air above those four sections.

There was the image of innumerable hands, hovering above a part of the sea that teetered between existence and non-existence.

There was a massive violet spark that radiated life, which floated over a violet sea. This violet sea was also the most lively and rough section of Gilgamesh's sea of energy.

The next section comprised of black water, emitting a temperature far lower than anything Gilgamesh had ever felt. A giant black spiral endlessly spun in the air above this black sea, seeming even more deadly than it had been when Gilgamesh summoned its power before.

Finally, there was a pure white sea above which hovered a miniature version of the giant brain Gilgamesh had seen.

Once he had observed all these things, he finally noticed something he did not recognize.

"You should be able to see the power somewhere within your sea of energy. It will be dormant and a bit hard to find since it was never nurtured, but it will surely be there."

Gilgamesh nodded, but did not immediately tell Truth's Mind that he had found it already. Instead, he ventured toward the power, which he had actually never observed before. It was given to him without him knowing about it, so that he could keep hold of it until he was able to destroy it.

That had been the Divine One's plan all along.

When Gilgamesh approached it, he saw the image it possessed. It was a quill and a sheet of paper, on which the quill had yet to start writing on.

Gilgamesh put his hands out and touched the image, and only then did he tell Truth's Mind that he had found it.

"Perfect. Now all you need to do is mobilize the power of Truth's Mind and tell it to be destroyed."

"Quick question," Gilgamesh smirked. Only, this time, there was no innocence in his smirk.

"Of course, but remember that there are certain things that I can't answer."

"Oh, I know. I just wanted to ask why you can't destroy the power yourself."

"We erased it before, but our mistake caused an exile to restore it. In order to ensure we avoid any such mistakes taking place again, we decided to let a fateless one like you destroy it."

"Oh?"

Gilgamesh's smirk only intensified.

"Do you really think I, Gilgamesh, would believe such a stupid lie?"

In that moment, his hands that had taken hold of the quill and paper breathed life into the image, and a fifth section began to take shape within his sea of energy.

Immediately, within the blank space where his consciousness was housed alone with Truth's Mind, a Hand of the Old Power, a Blaze of the Obscure Spark and a Spiral of the Endless Cycle appeared, completely uninvited.

"Gilgamesh!"

"Do not be a fool!"

"You must destroy that power, or it will ruin your foundation and doom you to a life without sufficient strength to survive!"

When Gilgamesh opened his eyes again, his body was now coated in five natures, and he regarded the four Divine Ones that had appeared before him with a wide grin.

"Come now, you shameless fools. Surely you could have come up with a better scheme than this."