Crown

Uēpa Laesi-Ancient Eyes

An anxious Sora paced back and forth on the observatory floor. Just watching him made Tekina nervous. Kaito shifted his weight onto a seat next to Tekina. "The guards haven't found anything yet?" He asked.

"No. There's nothing. The only thing they reported were remnants of strange markings in the water. It had disappeared by the time I got there though. Illya seemed to disappear upon hearing this as well. She seems pretty adamant that this has something to do with Henaer's void." Sora replied warily.

"The name sounds familiar. I think I read something about it once but I can't quite remember the details." Tekina pondered.

Sora was silent for a moment. His pacing slowed until he came to a stop near the desk at which Tekina and Kaito sat. "Henaer is the Goddess of darkness and...she happens to be Illya's aunt. Neither of them is exactly on 'good terms' with Illya's father. It seems Henaer tried to use this fact to lure Illya to her side multiple times before when she was younger. As you can probably tell it hasn't panned out very well for her. It's been years since Illya first found out about her. I wonder why she'd make a move now."

Sora fell silent. Pondering the many possible reasons for the recent occurrences. Tekina and Kaito followed suit, hoping to help in any way possible. A small way of saying thank you to Illya for deciding not to slaughter them when she had the chance.

•~•~•~•~•~•~•

Whilst they searched for a solution to the abrupt kidnapping, Illya found herself elsewhere. Specifically in an ethereal void of time, a land where great beings from the past present and future could reside and co-mingle with one another. It was a place Illya often came to in order to clear her head. She made her way into the eastern gardens and took a seat under her favourite cherry tree.

She leaned against the trunk and shut her eyes. "Damn it!" She cursed to herself. She had to wait. As much as she disliked it, she would have to wait patiently. In the meantime, she figured she should try to calm herself, after all, Henaer probably wouldn't harm Astrid right away. Illya sat there for what felt like an eternity. In reality, no more than a few minutes had passed before a smooth voice resonated past the falling blossoms and gentle winds.

"I didn't think I'd find you here. It's been far too long since you've visited."

Her eyes shot open and she turned to meet an intense, unwavering, crimson gaze.

"Gilgamesh? What are you doing here? I thought you were still taking care of business in Uruk?"

His gaze held such intensity, if it were anyone other than her in front of him, they'd surely be taken with the need to lower their eyes, or to run away. Everything about the man demanded respect. The atmosphere around him was majestic, yet domineering. From his body language to his small mannerisms, it was clear that he was not someone to be taken lightly. His piercing gaze bore right through her, and despite knowing him for years, she still felt the need to muster all her determination to withstand it. He was observing her intensely, yet there was no hostility, no aggressiveness in his stare.

"I wanted to rest a little so I came here..."

His golden hair shimmered in the sunlight that peeked out from in between the branches above them. He adjusted his tunic and took a seat next to her. "Nostalgic isn't it. We used to sit here and talk all day...back when we were married that is."

Illya sighed. "If you're here to bug me about that then leave. I have other things to worry about. Besides, you know that marriage was only a means to ensure my safety at the time."

He said nothing. Simply looked at her. When she met his eyes she knew. It was some twenty one years ago when they were together. It wasn't very long but they had grown quite close despite initially despising one another when they first met. While it may not have been love on her part, she was still very fond of his company. Something about the man's attitude just put her at ease, like that of an old friend.

Of course, it helped that he was none other than the fabled King Gilgamesh, the very hero in the stories she read as a child. Oh, how she idolized him. Until she found out what an egotistical, asshole he could be. In fact, on their second meeting, he demanded she marry him. When she refused he proceeded to impale her with multiple weapons. She loathed him then.

However, after many years of finding themselves constantly having to meet each other, they ended up coming to tolerate one other quite a bit. During this time they would grow closer and when her family and King Sana turned their forces towards her, he was the one to come to her aid. As soon as enemy empires declared war on the newly acquired Solaria, more and more nations and enemies came out of the wood works. They believed that since Illya had just recently secured control over Solaria, the country would be too weak to fend off an attack and she would easily be defeated, leaving Solaria to whomever the victor would have been.

Although she had her protests to the idea, she agreed to marry Gilgamesh, though not under completely official terms. Everyone knew who he was and no one dared to cross blades with him, understandably so. They would die within seconds of even harbouring any thoughts of violence against him. As his wife, she was hereby under his protection and for the next few months everyone would back off, giving Illya enough time to build up Solaria. When they separated, not one person dared to declare war on her as they now knew she had a rather formidable ally.

Gilgamesh was very particular when it came to the things he liked. So much so that Illya couldn't even begin to understand why he had taken such a liking to her to begin with. He was and still is far more powerful. He had everything, captivating looks beyond that of any God, every treasure known to man and despite being a demi-god, he had an air about him that demanded respect from even the most powerful of beings while she on the other hand still had a lot to learn as a Goddess. Needless to say, their relationship has come quite far and while he did often hint at still having feelings for her, he never acted on it, mostly because she would tear him apart if he even thought of disrespecting her husband like that. They've gotten to a point where they have enough respect for each other to understand their boundaries and still support one another.

"You look pale. Is something the matter?"

"...Astrid...she's...been kidnapped." Her voice quivered as panic surged through her. Memories of her insecurities upon entering motherhood, memories of failing to protect her children, ravaged her mind as they came back to haunt her. Illya brought her knees to her chest and loosely wrapped her hands around them, closing her eyes and resting her head on her knee.

"I...am losing someone I love to the God's again...and I can't even do anything about it because I have to wait for the only person who can help me to get here." She huffed in frustration.

She was patient and calculating when she wanted to be, but Illya much rather preferred to rid herself of nasty thorns the moment they reared their ugly heads. For now, she was faced with two options. Submit herself to Henaer's will in order to summon her, or wait for Erebus to help her confront the Goddess, with the latter most likely resulting in catastrophic consequences.