54

Dan took back the thoughts he had on Tero a few hours ago. He thought that Tero was tough and that he misjudged but now he knew for a fact that he had not. Tero was the type of person who would be stood up on a date and then go on a date with the same exact person to the most expensive restaurant and the most he would get was a kiss on the cheek and he would be happy about it.

Dan and Tero had gotten back to work. Dan was currently swinging his pickaxe up and down breaking rocks and anything that obstructed his path. Dan seemed to be in a good mood as he sang a song in a melodious tune.

"I've Dug a grave for myself, my dear,

My grim reaper is right next to me, my dear,

I Sold my soul to the devil, my dear,

Idanced with a demon, my dear,

I met a beauty, my dear,

I fell in love with her, my dear,

She charmed me like she was a siren, my dear,

she tried to steal my soul, my dear,

sadly I still love her, my dear,

I hope you forgive me, my dear,"

"What is that song you are singing?" Tero asked. "It sounds nice, calming and poetic." Tero had stopped working nearly half an hour ago and was just listening to Dan's beautiful voice.

"Well if you find death, conquerors, tyrants, war and betrayal calming then yes it is nice."

"What?" Tero had a confused look on his face. "But that isn't what you were singing about. You were singing about a guy who is about to die and apologising to his lover, are you not?"

Dan tapped the pick axe that was on his shoulder.

"Well yes, but that is just the last part of the song, that is just one verse of a 2000 verse long song. Surprisingly I memorized it all, wish I didn't!"

"Well what is it about?"

Dan started to explain to Tero about what he was singing. The song was about a man called Gilgamesh. He was a man with nothing and turned that nothing into everything. He was a conqueror and a tyrant. He was so powerful that he controlled over one third's of the entire population.

Day after day he would grow in wealth, fame, influence and power until he had the thought of thinking that he could conquer death and last forever.

"And then what happened?" Tero asked. It had been nearly four hours since Dan started explaining in detail of how a malnourished kid turned into the most powerful person on earth and he was hooked onto the story.

"Well, if you shut up and stop interrupting me, I can tell you." Dan said as he fumbled with his afro hair.

"He got too greedy, not that greed is a bad thing. It's just that you need to pace the way so that your greed can walk on the road without any obstruction. What do you think?"

Tero thought for a while. Cicadas started buzzing as it was dusk and insects of all sorts made there usual sounds.

"I disagree," Tero said.

"Why is that?"

"I think that greed is good, but to much of it is bad, it has to be kept in check otherwise it will be your downfall."

"That was a dumb answer wasn't it?" Dan said as he chuckled. Dan only saw greed as a good thing. If anything, if people around Dan were to be asked what would his downfall be they would say one of three things or all of them.

Either it would be his craziness, his greed or his need for chaos and destruction.

"Say what you will but I believe that gree-"

"Shut up I'm telling a story here not arguing philosophy with you."

Gilgamesh got way to powerful for himself and could not control it, he let it control him. He was blinded by his pride. Had his eyes not been sewed shut by his pride then he would have seen the betrayal coming his way.

His son stabbed him. He was tired of the violence, all the burnt villages, the crushed kingdoms, the slaughtered innocents, the raped woman and the the blood shed. He decided to end it by going straight to the source.

Having seen that it was his son that stabbed him in the back, in a fit of rage he pulled out his sword and cut down his son.

The maids entered only to find him heavily bleeding and his sons head on the floor. He was nursed back to health but the nurses swore he was never the same. He was quieter, calmer and less arrogant. He even stopped seeing woman and focused his attention to his wife who had gone insane after finding out about her son's death.

Two years later she killed herself!

After that he lost his mind himself. He started talking to himself, started to see the ghost of his dead child and wife.

He gave up all of his possessions, his castles and lands. He freed all of his slaves and prisoners. He gave all of his jewellery and gold to his maids making them far richer than they thought they could ever be.

He gave it all up and wandered the earth. He wandered for over 2 decades to search for a way to conquer death and bring the dead back to life until finally, he reached the end of the world. As he stared into the infinitely expanding abyss of space it stared back.

A being materialized in front of him claiming to be an angel. It had a broken halo and 36 wings each as pure as snow probably even purer. Its however was something else. It had no face and instead had a large burn marks. It claimed it would give him control over death for a month in exchange for his soul.

Gilgamesh eagerly agreed. He signed a contract without hesitation. He was happy. He was moments away from getting what he had wanted for years.

Sadly, Gilgamesh was naive. The devil takes many forms and appears to the most desperate of people. If the devil approaches you then you should never trust it even if it was to sign a contract after all, the devil does not need a contract of any kind to do anything to you.

Gilgamesh's soul was taken and he never recieved payment. He wondered for a few months and met a woman that resembled his late wife.

He stalked her for a while, then asked her out and then he poured his heart out on her. Sadly for him, that woman was a devil worshipper. She tied him up and offered his soul as a sacrifice but he didn't have a soul. Nothing happened to him.

He went back to the edge of the world and dug himself a grave, wrote his woes down and waited until finally the Angel of Death came for him.

"Sob...sniff..."

Dan and Tero were walking back towards the village as it was practically night time.

"Are you crying?" Dan asked.

"No...yes... it's just so sad. A man seeking redemption, giving up all his possessions and power that he built for years just for the love he had for his loved ones."

"I can't believe I actually liked him. I liked it when he used to go around conquering countries, executing people and using newly born children to make food for his hunting hounds! But he became pathetic after his marriage, he should have not gone on that redemption path. He should have continued on his path of destruction." Dan said as he summoned a flame on his hand and then crumpled it, extinguishing the fire.

The look on Tero's face was hard to explain. It was a look of confusion, amazement and bafflement. He didn't know what to say! They trudged home with Dan complaining about how Gilgamesh became soft and dumb after his marriage.