With Heroine imprisoned for three hours, Gilgamesh decided to explore the rest of the palace to see what else it held that could be of use to him. As he walked further down the Hallway, he came across a crowd of Nobles gathered around a path in the wall.
Gilgamesh looked down the end of a short path and saw a grand gate made of solid gold, guarded by Puppet Knights in special white and gold armor. A plaque rested above the solid doors, carved with only three words.
‘Blood for Gold’
“Whose blood…?” Gilgamesh wondered.
“What are you all standing around here for?” He asked one of the crowd.
The Nobleman glanced at Gilgamesh’s mask. “We’re trying to figure out how to get in.”
“Has anyone succeeded?”
“They’ve succeeded at cutting their lives short.” The man chuckled. “But I have an idea to get into this Treasury-”
Gilgamesh walked away in the middle of whatever scheme the Nobleman was about to propose. “If the answer is not here, then it must lie somewhere else.”
Gilgamesh walked further down the Hallway and came across another area. He entered to a vast room lined with giant shelves filled with more books than he could count. Servants waited patiently at various corners as Nobles walked within, though their numbers were far fewer than in the Lounge.
Gilgamesh glanced at them, then he walked over to pick up a book at random. Its cover bore the illustration of the same Puppet King in the Ballroom sitting on the throne. Behind him stood Knights and Servants, and at his side stood the Executioner, a masked Jester, and a puppet that first seemed to be the Queen, but by the position she stood, Gilgamesh felt that she better fit the role of a Princess.
Gilgamesh opened the book and flipped through its pages, but each and every one was the same illustration as the cover.
“...Is this some sort of joke?”
Gilgamesh put the book back and picked up another, but it turned out to be exactly the same one. He walked around the library and picked up more books at random to find the same result.
However, on the seventh try, something finally changed. Gone were the Jester and Princess from the beautiful cover, and the King had grown old and weary.
Gilgamesh opened the book and found a story. Each page was illustrated with a simple but dignified drawing, accompanied by only a few short passages, which together told the story of the palace.
'In the beginning, the King built a magnificent palace and ruled over its prosperity.'
The page showed the initial painting of the perfect palace.
'But one day, his loyal follower, the Jester, grew jealous of him.'
This painting showed the Jester standing within the shadow of the corridor. His back was turned to the King in the distance, as he looked over his shoulder.
'So jealous that he tricked the Princess into revealing how he could steal a weapon from the Treasury that could kill the King.'
It showed the Jester whispering in the Princess' ear when no one else was looking.
'The Jester ruthlessly sacrificed the Princess to obtain the Golden Dagger, and attacked the King.'
The painting was of the Jester leaping at the King with a Golden Dagger in hand. In front of him, the King recoiled back in his throne with his hand held out to protect himself. And behind him, the Princess lay dead on the ground with the pure white silk around her heart stained red.
'But even with the Golden Dagger, the Jester could not defeat the King's most powerful follower. At the King's command, the Executioner inflicted a mortal wound upon the Jester.'
Gilgamesh lingered on the drawing of the Puppet King, still sat upon the throne, but now pointed out a finger in fury. Ahead of him, the Jester was struck down by the Executioner and the Golden Dagger fell from his hands.
'But even in death, the Jester's jealousy would not end. He fell below the majesty of the palace, and returned as a Phantom to haunt its hallowed halls.'
A sequence of drawings showed the Jester fall below the ground and into a windowless dungeon. His mask split in half and a black cloak enveloped him, and he rose as something else.
'Now the Jester lurks in the shadows of the palace as a Phantom, awaiting his chance to usurp the King and claim the throne for himself.'
A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.
The final drawing was of the King, now old and weary, sitting upon the throne with his head in his hand. The Executioner guarded him fiercely as the Phantom watched on from the shadows.
[ First Wife ] smiles mockingly.
[ Three-Headed Snake ] takes great amusement in the story.
[ Lion of the False Heaven ] is deeply disdainful.
Gilgamesh felt there was a deeper meaning to this story, but at the moment, all he cared about was its place in the Trial.
“A Golden Dagger can kill the King. I do not know where a Dagger can be obtained, but the one I saw used in the Ballroom was a normal one. Is it telling me I must find a way into the Treasury to obtain a Golden Dagger to kill the King? But even if I do, the Executioner will stop me… I need a way to defeat the Executioner.”
“The wise man doubteth often, and changeth his mind. The fool is obstinate, and doubteth not. He knoweth all things but his own ignorance.”
Gilgamesh turned to the Nobleman who spoke. He lacked a Ring to see his Prestige, but the white mask revealed him to be a Baron.
“So many come and leave after trying but a few times. Such poor fools… How could the answer be so easy to obtain? You must keep searching.”
Gilgamesh eyed him for a moment. “What else have you found aside from this second book-”
“The Sun must take power from the Sky, or it will drown.” The man spoke with zealous devotion. “The answer is here. You must keep searching.”
Gilgamesh watched him for a while more as the man returned to the books only to read the same story over and over, then he headed back into the Hallway.
“The rest of the answer must be somewhere else.”
The next room he came across was a Gallery filled with the most exquisite paintings he had ever seen, although the subjects of them all were Puppets. Most seemed irrelevant. There was no shortage of great battles, wondrous events, and hellish scenes. But one among them captured his interest.
It was a painting of the Princess, fallen to her knees with a Golden Dagger plunged into her heart, and the Jester ominously looming over her. The Jester seemed to pull at the dagger, as if to claim it for himself, while the Princess grasped it tight, to deny him that prize. But the blood that stained her pure white dress red revealed that her attempt would only be in vain.
Though the Puppets had no expressions, Gilgamesh could not help but feel instinctively that it was not misery or fear which the Princess felt, but resolve. And it was not glee or satisfaction that the Jester felt in his wicked act, but a steeled lamentation.
[ Serpent of False Mysteries ] wants to know why you have two names.
[ Serpent of False Mysteries ] thought you only had one.
[ Some gods are paying attention. ]
[ Slanderer and Cheat ] goads you to reveal your secrets.
Gilgamesh paused a moment. “...The First Hero wanted to know how his people truly felt about him, so he disguised himself as a commoner and used a different name to mingle among them. Izdubar is a name I can use, but it is not mine. My name is Gilgamesh.”
[ A few gods are satisfied with your answer. ]
[ Serpent of False Mysteries ] asks who the First Hero is.
“The first Magus of my old world. The progenitor of all Magi.”
[ Serpent of False Mysteries ] asks what a Magus is.
“...One who is Awakened.” Gilgamesh lingered on the painting for a few moments more, then continued on his way.
Gilgamesh walked and walked down the Hallway, and finally he came to the end. He stepped through the marble corridor into a garden beneath the starry night sky.
Lawns of lush grass, dark under the night, meshed with white titled paths around the intricate array of hedges and bushes. But there were no flowers. What he had read of both ancient and recent royal courts spoke often of beautiful gardens, yet the one before him now hardly lived up to such high esteem.
Gilgamesh glanced at a pedestal that bore nothing where a statue ought to be as he walked along the path through the garden. Nothing he found was of any interest nor was it of any use in the game. It was simply a garden.
Gilgamesh found himself back at the empty pedestal and came to a stop. “I’ve been to all of the areas, but I’m still missing something… Perhaps there is a clue in the dungeons. Do I have to wait for her to return to get closer to the answer…?”
“Found you~” A red masked Noblewoman leaned in close with a sultry tone.
“...Sereth?” Gilgamesh thought.
“That’s right~”
“She can still read minds here…” The intensity of Gilgamesh’s thoughts deepened. “She knows who everyone is and what they have. She is unrivaled in this game!”
Sereth seemed to take amusement in how openly Gilgamesh now thought, since he knew it was pointless to try to hide them. Desires that were genuine, unabashed, and without a trace of insecurity in his intentions.
“You are a little more than before.” She slid around him in a stroll. “Far more interesting than the Mystery of this boring palace.”
“Have you figured it out?” Gilgamesh asked bluntly.
Sereth seemed to smile at him beneath her mask, but she did not answer his question. “Tell one of the Servants to lead you to the Phantom.”
Gilgamesh stared at her for a moment, then glanced over to one of the Puppet Servants that stood by the wall of the Palace within the Garden.
“Take me to the Phantom.” He walked over and ordered.
Silently, the Servant led him through a dark passage that opened up in the wall, and brought him into an empty Opera Hall. Gilgamesh glanced around as he walked through the rows of empty velvet seats and onto the stage behind the curtains. And the Phantom appeared, perched high above.
It donned the attire of a noble jester as he had seen in the books, though now it wore a noble’s cloak that wreathed around it like a flowing shadow. Part of its plain wooden face was exposed, the rest covered by half a smiling Noble’s mask.
The Phantom extended its hand and a Dagger appeared in Gilgamesh’s own. Shadows wrapped around the Phantom before anything else could occur, and Gilgamesh found himself back in the Garden.
[ Dagger ]
'Enables the wielder to kill a Noble and plunder all of their Prestige.'
“If you become a Marquis on your own, and show me something fun…” Sereth approached him closely. “I’ll be loyal to you for the rest of this Trial.”
“A second loyal pawn… of the highest quality.” Something within Gilgamesh flickered. “With them and this Dagger, those are all the pieces I need.”
Sereth held his arm tighter as the not-yet fully formed embers of his new Instinct seeped out into the world.
What do you think about the rewrites?
