tap
“Didn’t think those two schemers were this slow.” the green haired Chain murmured from their place near The Gate, patiently waiting for some sign which Ereshkigal still hadn’t figured out.
tap tap tap
“They aren’t. The Painter is a hedonist, like that pervert nun. And the Puritan is enjoying her freedom.” Ereshkigal mused aloud, tapping the tip of of her lance, Meslamtaea, as she tried to figure out what the two Foreigners were up to.
I could understand waiting a few days, especially once I made it known I was aware of their plan, but three weeks?????
A tired sigh came from her fellow Guardian of The Gate.
“Did you pay any attention to the Caster we caught them with?”
The Chain looked up from their place near The Gate, looking her straight in the eyes.
For anyone else, anger or embarrassment would override her sense and confuse her.
But The Chain Of Heaven was an equal, and considering how good a job they did of keeping 3 distinct Gilgameshes’ under control, she knew where she stood with them.
“Why? He’s an insignificant pawn in their game, as far as I can tell.”
She turned her gaze to where she knew the weak Caster kept his room, and frowned.
Again, nothing like what we saw in that moment we caught them in the act.
A mischievous smile tugged at The Chain’s normally emotionless features.
“Your Sister is leaking through, if the normally composed and clever Ruler of the Underworld is overlooking that one.”
While she managed to retain her composure and not let her emotions fly, the red hue she now radiated was beyond her to control.
“Hes a rapist and heretic, with no power to his name. What could his legend offer to those two?”
The Chain stood, and started to dissipate into spirit form, apparently leaving her to guard duty.
“True, hes basically nothing compared to other Servants here. But according to My Friend, he has a reason as to why the Outsiders would seek his aid.”
Ereshkigal sighed, thinking over what Enkidu had said.
That rotten King of Heroes. He would know something about using other peoples’ legends………….even if they were technically his first.
Ereshkigal then sat herself in front of The Gate, mimicking the seated position The Chain of Heaven had done.
She couldn’t find out what they had meant until they got back, and she’d……..kind of…..left her Chaldea Tablet behind when she had last switched back for solitary duty.
She rested her chin in her hand.
“This is going to be a long vigil.”
======================================
“He’s taking too long.”
Abigail pouted and puffing out her cheeks in irritation, huffing as she forcibly sat down on to her ally’s bed.
“And this is why he’s taking so long.” Hokusai patiently explained the the young Puritan.
“We’re being watched, so we can’t do anything. But unlike us, who reek of the rot of the oceanic abyss to those who know its stench, that perverted fool only borrows the Evil God’s Power, so he can walk around without raising suspicion.”
What she didn’t tell She Who Was The Key was that the sheer scale of the ritual required actual knowledge of arcane texts and ritualistic practice.
And while she who contained The Outer God could definitely access the knowledge if she tried, she didn’t have the years of practice needed to ensure it worked without taking Chaldea down into the abyss that needed to stay dreaming.
“BUT I’M BORED!” ‘Abigail’ pouted, oily light washing over her as her eldritch form asserted itself.
Ah, that would explain it.
“I understand, Great One. But the Ruler of the Abyss is patient, and the Caster said he will get us when the ritual is ready.” Hokusai sat beside the amalgamation of Outer God and young girl, and guided the young thing’s head to her lap, where she quickly painted a fine toothed comb and proceeded to calm brush the long golden hair.
If it had been anyone else, the Outer God would not have tolerated Another touching its host.
But as the Host was both container and reason of manifestation, this small shard was easily influenced by the Puritan girl who just craved physical affection.
As the Outer God went back into its dreamless slumber, Abigail happily murmured, “Then please distract me and pamper me.”
Hokusai laughed heartily, and began pampering the young girl.
While her Father had originated the plan, she’d already figured out what she needed to do to ensure Chaldea’s safety.
Part of which meant keeping The Outer God from interfering. Which was an excuse she happily used to lavish the young girl like the younger sister she now thought of her as.
===========================
“Why are you allowing them to do this?” Enkidu asked their friends, having somehow managed to corral all 3 Gilgameshs’ into a room away from everyone.
They knew Gilgamesh to be one to tackle threats head on, before they became a true issue.
Which would explain why the Adult Archer might not have done anything, having long since become over confident in his abilities as King of Heroes.
But that didn’t explain why the two intelligent Gils’ hadn’t done anything.
The King of Heroes was ignoring them, which was fine, since Enkidu had only really dragged the insufferable one because the mess of not bringing him wasn’t worth the effort.
“Eh, the young girl won’t do anything to hurt our Master. Her love is too pure and not twisted like a lot of the others here for her to stand the idea of hurting our Master.” The young Archer piped up.
“And the Painter isn’t as much a fool as her Father would want us to believe.” The Caster added, also watching his future Archerself’s apparent disdain for this sudden meeting.
The King of Heroes suddenly stood up, and headed for the door.
Before exiting, the red snake eyes of the King of Heroes looked Enkidu right in the eyes.
“The Painter promised me a painting worthy of us all, and the young one promised to keep the dream alive. That was all I needed, and it should be all you need.”
And he was gone.
The remaining Gils’ sighed in relief.
“Well, thats settled then.”
Enkidu tilted their head, puzzled.
“Oh?”
Caster Gil reached a hand for his friend, as the young King quickly left to either cause mischief or have Moriarty spoil him.
“The reason your worried is a good reason to be, given the otherworldy threat those two contain. But like the stories of the Devil Hiding in the Moon’s Shadow my older self told us, this won’t be the first time something else has sided with us.”
Enkidu sighed, then smiled, grasping the outstretched hand close.
“I trust your judgement. Ereshkigal won’t though. The Abyss is a sore spot for her lately.”
A smirk appeared on the King of Babylonia’s face.
“Then its simple. Unlike you, she needs rest.”
==========================================
“Sleep, now.” Enkidu stated, materialising into a physical form, startling the dozing Ereshkigal into a flustered panic.
“I WASN’T SLEEPING!” the Queen of the Abyss stated, before slowly and guiltily adding, “I was just……resting my eyes……..”
The tiniest of smiles hid itself in the corners of their otherwise emotionless face.
“Then there is no problem with me taking over guard duty, and letting you get some sleep before your ‘sister’ decides to cause trouble for you.” they added deviously.
Enkidu enjoyed the company of both of the Babylonian Goddesses, but they couldn’t help but enjoy blaming Ishtar for Ereshkigal’s mistakes.
It wasn’t meant maliciously, since unlike Gilgamesh, Enkidu and Ishtar had a good friendship. It also happened to be the sort of friendship where Enkidu could blame Ishtar for things that, while they weren’t true, weren’t far from a believable thing she might do.
“Now now, she wouldn’t do anything like that…………..anymore. We established boundaries.” the blonde sister was surprisingly quick to defend her black haired sister.
Enkidu raised an eyebrow.
“You mean the goddess who is known to be easily bribed, and constantly ignores boundaries that don’t suit her desires, who has few rivals who can stop her when you aren’t around? That Ishtar?”
An indignant flush was quick to spread across the pale fears of the pseudoservant’s face, and began to stammer a defence.
Enkidu quickly quieted the Queen of Kur with a hug.
“I’m teasing. But you need sleep, and I’m available to look out for you.”
Having stiffened upon receiving a hug from the Chain of Heaven, she quickly returned it, nodded, and dematerialised without another word.
Enkidu waited a while, before they received a notification on their communicator, from the young Gil.
Looks like she took my advice.
They turned to look directly at the two Foreigners, and made the Chain of Heaven’s presence known to them, before turning around and leaving the Doorway to the Abyss.
Gilgamesh said the two could be trusted, and that was enough for Enkidu.
=============================
“It’s time.” Toto-sama whispered into the ear of the pale girl resting on ‘his’ lap.
“FINALLY!” The pale girl exclaimed, as her pale skin took on a purple hue, her black dress replaced with the Gown of the Gate.
“Go on ahead, and collect Gilles. I need to collect some more supplies.” The words tumbled from Toto-sama’s mouth, despite knowing it was not he who spoke them.
He watched as the Incarnation of the Gate was quick to disappear into a cloud of insects, be he was forcibly ejected from his shared body.
“Sorry, old man. Can’t letcha be in control for this.” Oei informed the now indignant octopus creature floating indignantly around her.
“Thinka it this way: If we do what you want, we’ll get one amazing painting. OR!” she was quick to put emphasis on this before her father could object with his hyperfixation on painting an Outer God, “We could paint multiple paintings of all the various aspects of Heroic Spirits from around the world, and of the various horrors Lord Ritsuka has dealt with and will deal with in the future!”
The strange octopus stopped indignantly hovering around her, and began to contemplate what she told him.
She had him, she knew it. She just had to make him realise the potential of letting this dream live, over his mad dream.
……….despite how tempting the idea of painting an alien existence was.
After some thought, her father raised his tentacles in the vague form of a fist, and gave the equivalent of a thumb’s up.
Oei smiled. “Let’s get tah painting this dream!”
===========================
The being possessing Abigail left her tool’s room, pleased to finally be breaking down the false dream to the point where it could be replaced by its own.
The Horror wanted this canvas for its own purposes, and the entity wanted to ensure its existence was guaranteed in that bleached world.
She headed towards her room, coughing at the vague haze of smoke that was filling the corridor.
Watching from just far enough away that he knew the evil wouldn’t sense him, Geronimo finished the last of the shamanistic spell weaved into the smoke, and felt it settle comfortable between whatever the entity was, and the young puritan girl, within her saint graph.
“My part is done. Hopefully, this will help you, young one.”