Sacrifice (EN) Gilgamesh X Arthur

2

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"My King, please, don't do this!" The Priestess, who had reluctantly followed her Majesty through the rocky labyrinth to convince him to turn back, begged for more and more, and now she was paralyzed in front of the closed doors in the mountain.

While she was frightened and at the end of hope, the man remained proud. The vision was ghastly, but in no way intimidating according to him.

"This is no longer the time to argue, Siduri, Uruk is lost, but its people still live and I intend to save them."

"But you will lose your soul..." Begged the woman again, desperately holding her king by the arm, trying to prevent him from approaching the gates. "There is still a chance to redeem yourself, if you meet this foreign god, the soul eater, they will never forgive you. I beg you, my King, let's flee the country..."

"Does it really matter? Those gods you adore didn't stop Tiamat from sending her children to devour us and you still venerate them? You are a fool!" He said while looking at her and pulled his arm free.

"If you hadn't rejected them a long time ago, this would never have happened. But there is still the possibility of returning to their good grace. For pity's sake, don't go, they will not forgive you, nor them, nor even your people. For them, you are already the cause of all this chaos, do not make this mistake which will also be your end!"

The king studied her for a long time.

"Would you have preferred that I follow their orders, by becoming their puppet in the sole hope of manipulating my people through me? Would you have liked to be a disposable servant, Siduri? Accepting this fate just hoping for their love in return? Is that what you would have wished?"

"If this could have saved Uruk, yes! Yes with all my heart, my King!"

"Then you haven't understood anything." He makes another dismissive gesture before turning away from her and walking towards the doors. "No matter how much you hate me, I will not allow the gods of Mesopotamia to use us, much less our mother to destroy us..."

"But you want to address a foreign god!"

"This god is neither Mesopotamian nor truly divine... He does not need to be worshipped to exist. No matter how much time passes, he will persist through the ages, for he simply feeds on death, whatever its form. For a long time, he has aspired to enter the domain of Ereshkigal because she preciously guards the souls he would love to devour, but he does not need prayers, nor to be venerated, nor to manipulate a human to exist..."

"My King..."

"ENOUGH! If you're going to keep begging, go away!"

The woman sobbed again, ignored by the king, who walked slowly towards the bell waiting outside. Although it was daylight, darkness reigned in these places as if it was night and it was with an almost hesitant gesture that he grabbed the rope and rang the bell for the first time.

The sound chilled his back and froze his veins as he heard Siduri's desperation behind him, barely covered by the sinister melody.

His gaze was turned directly to the mountain, watching the stone rumbling and the ground trembling. The sound of the gear mechanisms could be heard after a moment, and slowly the two large doors opened in a 'thud'.

The doors gave access to a black and opaque abyss, leaving no possibility to observe the gloomy interior. An equally dark, thick mist seemed to escape from the opening and spread gently over the floor, before simply disappearing.

Gilgamesh stopped himself from swallowing, unaware of what awaited him, knowing full well that it wasn't like the underground where Ereshkigal reigned... it seemed to be worse.