Fate/Curadh Beag

Chapter 4: The Celtic Isles

FATE/CURADH BEAG

"Little Champion"

Chapter 4: The Celtic Isles

Chaldea

"Pfft... fwa ha ha... Ah hah hah hah hah hah hah hah hah hah!"

Gilgamesh covered his face in a futile attempt to hide his mirthful expression. He was laughing so hard that he had to wipe a couple of tears from the corners of his eyes. This wasn't his typical arrogant laugh that he'd bellow to assert his dominance – this was an honest-to-goodness fit of laughter one would experience from seeing something absolutely hilarious. It got to a point that he needed to press his hand against his gut to keep it from twisting into painful contortions.

"L-Lord Gilgamesh..." Aibi murmured, unsure of how to calm him down.

"My word, it's almost too much!" the king howled as he tried to settle himself, yet the chortles kept coming. "Did you see that!? The way the runt smacked against the wall like a rag doll!? Goodness, such comedy should be considered criminal! Hah hah hah hah hah!"

"Well, I fail to see the humor," Cuchulainn growled. "If you had to go through that nightmare gauntlet like I once did, you wouldn't be laughing anymore."

"Pah! As if a paltry challenge like that is worth my notice!"

"I bet Scathach would find a way to seal off your treasury. She is the Land of Shadows' queen, after all. Once you step into her territory, you're basically her bitch."

"You speak as if her territorial advantage is something I should fear. Besides, no ordinary mortal would be able to cut me off from my Gate of Babylon."

"Scathach is hardly what you would call an 'ordinary mortal'."

Gilgamesh noticed Cuchulainn's stern expression, realizing the Celt was not joking around. He glanced at Aibi and said, "You've had experience with that woman before. Do tell me that the Mad Mongrel speaks lies."

"Well, um..." Aibi shuffled about uneasily. "Let's just say that she's exceptionally powerful when she's residing within the Land of Shadows. You could say that she and the Celtic underworld are one and the same. You simply can't talk about one without referring to the other."

"Hmm... So it's kind of like with Ereshkigal and her dominion over Irkalla?"

"More or less."

"... Very well. I have little choice but to defer when such a comparison is being made. Still, it is rather remarkable that the runt was able to overcome such a simple trial with naught more than her wits and knowledge. It would be the equivalent of passing through Irkalla's seven gates while already naked – foolish, yet equally brilliant."

Aibi let out a light sigh, relieved that Gilgamesh finally stopped behaving so erratically. She turned her attention back to the monitor as she examined Connla's vitals. She murmured to Cuchulainn, "It looks like her heart rate and breathing were in sync with her counterpart's during the jump across the ravine."

"Yeah," Cuchulainn said. "It was faint, but I could sense the other Connla's sheer terror."

She frowned a bit, then leaned in and whispered in his ear, "I'm sorry about Lord Gilgamesh."

"Hm? Why is that?"

"You must be so worried about Geal, yet he's laughing without a care in the world. I can only imagine how incredibly offended you must be."

He paused for a moment, not expecting her to say something so sensitive. It was true that the Sumerian king's presence was getting on his nerves. Yet, he also knew that he genuinely meant no harm. He eventually shrugged and muttered, "I stopped giving a shit ages ago. The guy's two-thirds divine, and you know how screwed up the gods' way of thinking is, regardless of which mythology they come from. Better to just ignore it, rather than argue with him every time he does something stupid."