Fate/Brothers in Destiny

Chapter 1: Lady in the Kaleidoscope

FATE/BROTHERS IN DESTINY

Chapter 1: Lady in the Kaleidoscope

AUTHOR'S NOTE: This and any future stories involving Connla will assume that you have read all previous stories, so some details already covered there will not be explained here. If you haven't read those, I recommend you do so before this one so you aren't too confused.

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Two weeks earlier...

Within the realm of dreams, a lone man drifted through the nonsensical space of shapes and colors. Though he dreamed, he was perfectly alert and capable of discerning what he was witnessing. It was an awareness that normal humans would not be able to possess, but by no means was this man ordinary. He was born with the blood of both humans and gods, destined to act as the last link between the fading deities and the mortals who were supposed to revere them, yet they forgot this duty and lavished in their own self-worth.

Self-worth was literally the definition of this man's personality, for he was none other than the Sumerian King of Heroes, the king who stood above all other kings – Gilgamesh, the owner of every Noble Phantasm in the world before his possessions were scattered across history and came into the hands of numerous heroes. If there was an object defined as a 'treasure', he could easily lay claim to it as his original property, and no one would be able to refute it. However, there were some things that remained even beyond his grasp. His nearly limitless treasury, the Gate of Babylon, only housed physical items of notable worth. There was nothing saying that he possessed anything intangible. Even immortality slipped through his fingers, though he laughed it off and discovered his humanity as a result.

Another thing Gilgamesh could not claim he possessed was the ability to rule over parallel worlds. Even he didn't know how much the gods from the ancient world were aware of these alternate possibilities, or if they sought worship from humans of other universes to make up for the lack of faith they received in their own world. It was certainly a fascinating concept for him, being able to journey to other realms and add their treasures to his collection.

But he had to be careful.

Journeying through alternate worlds haphazardly could wind up causing him to be a wandering soul, lost in a maze of endless what-ifs for all eternity. As if that wasn't convoluted enough, he possessed a kind of clairvoyance that allowed him to actually witness what these strange worlds entailed. He kept these visions heavily restrained though so that his memories would not get confused within the quagmire of millions of possibilities. He refused to allow his profound sense of self to be drowned out by numerous other possible versions of himself experiencing things that he claimed were utter nonsense, such as death or defeat.

His high divinity plus his clairvoyance were what allowed him to appear in this landscape, far removed from the concepts of time and space, staring into the distant kaleidoscope that was the realm between parallel worlds. Although his body was back in Chaldea, his spirit could be temporarily detached and allow him to reach this fantastic plane of existence through his dreams. It was easy for any other person to forget who they were and where they belonged when they gazed upon this incredible aurora of fantasy and wonder, but Gilgamesh would not allow that to happen. He knew his identity perfectly well, and not even the allure of endless exploration would deter him.

Humph... This is the third or fourth time I have come here. Is even the Kaleidoscope boorish enough to try and challenge my ego? I am not so foolish as to be casually entranced by this hallucination. If someone is responsible for me being here, I will have to demonstrate my innate superiority over them.

Gilgamesh scoffed at the colorful sight and attempted to forcefully wake himself up. However, as he turned his back to the chromatic scenery and faced the darkness of empty space, he noticed something shine all by itself in the far distance. Isolated from the colorful space was a single star twinkling in the darkness, as if it wanted nothing to do with the myriad of parallel worlds. Imagine a tiny black spot on an otherwise perfectly white sheet of paper – this little star was no different than that. Just like such a black spot, this shining twinkle grabbed his attention. No other 'stars' existed in this place, so why was he able to see one?