Voice Test: Someone just won't stay in the box....

[goldenmaster]

Woman, are you still muttering about those icons? He is my sword and my spear. Do you really think I would find it acceptable for him to share with the rest of them?

(When I asked him, he didn't seem to mind,)

[Gilgamesh sighs almost inaudibly and raises his hand.  Three command spells adorn the back of it, though they differ slightly from their original forms.]

There is a reason I am the master and he the servant.  Even after 10 years, he does not change.  He asks for nothing when he could have much more.  It is...annoying.  Sometimes, I do share when properly...petitioned, and he has learned well how to do that over the years.

(He did ask...)

Yes, yes for that woman's life.  To stop that foolish Kotomine from killing her to take her servant.  That was nothing.  I told the priest to keep me entertained.  He failed in that task and is no longer my concern.  Nor is the war, before you ask.  I have yet to decide if we will do more than we already have.  Perhaps the King will merely watch this round.

(Oh, really.  I find that hard to believe unless you are actually...content with him at your side and unwilling to risk losing him.)

[An cold, sharp anger flares in Gilgamesh's eyes.  He crosses his arms over his chest, speaking in an icy tone that matches that burst of anger perfectly.]

Don't think I didn't notice you duplicated several of those icons, woman, even after I told you not to.  I expect them to be swapped out as soon as you find others that portray the proper emotion.  Now go.  You have work to do.

Comments

[sawthedeep]

Tsk. Lazy mundane, hm.

A curse if there ever were.

[goldenmaster]

[Oh, and what is this? Gilgamesh raises an eyebrow at the other him.]

Indeed. I take it this is an...affliction I should get use to? How intolerable. What makes her think I will put up with this? For him or I? If she wishes to be lazy, she can save it for the rest of the hounds in her collection.

[sawthedeep]

They all have something wrong with them. The mundanes. [Likely the hounds, too, but he won't mention that. Have a sharp smile instead.] Lazy, or they talk back. It seems you've found one with both of those traits, unfortunately, but from what I've heard she has her own redeeming qualities.

A King should not be without the best that is available, after all.

[goldenmaster]

[He gestures widely in front of himself.]

I already have the best available. An obedient servant, my treasures, a world and war to play with as I see fit. Why should I care to have one of these flawed 'mundanes?' You say you have heard good things?

Amuse me. What have you heard? And I do hope you have more to say than she is kind to dogs. I know this far too well already.

[proteusmoon]

[ So this is the one, is it? The one who's broken Diarmuid... He claims to be a king? Cecil cannot imagine a good king being one who is so cruel to others when he must lead them. She can't fathom the usefulness of a king dehumanizing others, let alone the justification.

But here she is anyway, foolishly hoping to reason with him. ]

Are you dissatisfied with his lack of want, Your Majesty?

[goldenmaster]

Ah, yes...and finally one of those kind arrive. I wondered how long it would take for someone to come and try to rescue my little broken white knight.

[He gives her a very blatant, appraising look. The look is short, though, and he is obviously disappointed by what he sees. Not that he's all that surprised. She reeks of being another one of those chivalrous heroic types that so annoy him.]

You really don't wish the answer to that question, do you? Indeed, I expect you wish to ask something completely different. So speak and be glad I don't just kill you for wasting my time.

[proteusmoon]

[ Cecil shakes her head. ]

I do not have the power to save Diarmuid. It would be foolish of me to believe otherwise. That is between yourself and your mun. I would not pose a question to you that I did not wish to hear the answer to, but it's true that I have other questions as well.

[ She sighs and furrows her brow, worried. She will only get one chance at this, she senses, and she fears failing Diarmuid. But how to phrase her proposal without offending this king? He seems already offended, but she doesn't want to simply give up before she's even made a real attempt. ]

As you know, your mun considers placing him somewhere, apart from you. He does not wish to leave your side again, for fear of displeasing you. Therefore, I offer myself to you, to act in his stead as your servant, if you agree to tolerate his absence, so that you are not left unprotected.

[goldenmaster]

[Gilgamesh is silent for several long moments. It's almost like he's pondering something she has said. Perhaps maybe even considering her offer?

If she looks closer though, she will see that is far from the case. A great many emotions are flashing through his eyes.

And then he laughs. It is not a happy sound.]

'Left unprotected.' Me? Am I hearing you correctly, Mongrel?

[He eyes narrow to intensely angry crimson silts.]

The correct answer is "No, you did not hear that right, King of Heroes." Because I have killed people for smaller insults than that. How dare you even imply that I would need his protection? A king is not protected by his possessions, he protects them.

[proteusmoon]

[ Cecil cannot decide if she is convinced that the King of Heroes has a vast ego or very little self-worth to take such an implication away from one promising to swear fealty. Quickly, in an effort to right her apparent wrong, she drops to a knee and bows her head. ]

I apologize sincerely for insulting you, King of Heroes. I assure you it as not my intention. I am aware of your power, as my mun has informed me of it in great detail. As a monarch myself, I would not imply any such thing. I meant only to offer you my services and my loyalty, to provide you with the... comforts and pleasures that you would not have at your disposal without your servant. Simply because you can protect yourself does not mean you must. The queen before me did not pick up her blade once she ascended to the throne unless absolutely necessary or for sport.

[goldenmaster]

[He scoffs at her.]

What kind of king stands by and allows another to do what it is their job to do? No king at all. If that is how you ruled, then I will not hear you title yourself such again, is that understood? Not in the presence of the true King.

Now tell me, before I lose anymore patience with your voice and your assumptions, why are you so interested in my possession?

[proteusmoon]

It is not. Perhaps you would do well not to presume either.

[ Cecil's voice is firm, her tone similar to the one she used to command an air force, but she restrains herself just enough to keep from sparking an actual argument. It's really fortunate that the paladin's patience is near infinite, because Gilgamesh is certainly testing its limits. He's positively insufferable and he disgusts her in more ways than she can truly ever count.

But she must say that his insistence that a king protects rather than is protected is admirable and she agrees, despite that he calls people "possessions". ]

I owe one of his counterparts a debt. Your servant may not be the friend I made in Tower Animus, but I feel responsible to help him and you, his master, in any way possible because of your ties to my friend.

[goldenmaster]

You are mistaken again, Mongrel. My servant and I have no ties to you or anyone you know. And to assume that I would want your help... You really do not learn do you?

[Gilgamesh looks down at her disdainfully.]

Tell me, have you spoken with my servant? Your words imply you have. I will have to punish him if he has not warned you of the dangers that come with bothering me about such foolish things.

WELP. #YOLO

[proteusmoon]

[ It would seem that Cecil's patience is not so infinite after all. At some point, a line must be drawn and he's danced so impudently right across it. She suspects he's done so knowingly, too.

She rises from her knee and her Excalibur is drawn. She glares. She swore she'd protect Diarmnuid if she could, if even it was folly, and she does not plan to break her oath. ]

It would seem that nor do you, King of Heroes. He has warned me and I promised I would leave him be. I did not promise I would not touch you, however, so if you choose to harm a single hair on his head for what is not his fault, I will end you here and now.

YOLO....not the route to take with Gilgamesh... X.x

[goldenmaster]

[Gilgamesh starts laughing, but it's a frightening sound laced with anger. There is a barest gesture from his hand and the Gate ripples to life around him, the weapons it stores appearing at his side like the well trained possessions they are.]

That is enough. I grow tired of your yapping. How dare you presume to tell me when I will or will not punish my possession!

You have one more moment. Do give me a message to deliver to him when I see him next and inform him of your death. Perhaps it will make his punishment a little more...bearable.

See. I am not totally heartless now, am I?

NOT PARTICULARLY, NO.

[proteusmoon]

[ If Cecil is indeed daunted by the intimidating array of weapons Gilgamesh has at his command, she doesn't show it. Still, she's already putting her magical shields into place— first Protect, then Shell. If she had the help of a true white mage, this would possibly be a fair fight, but since she doesn't, naturally, it's not. Cecil stays her ground though. She's taken down mechanical giants, behemoths a dozen times larger and stronger than she is, the embodiment of darkness in the hearts of all beings, elemental archfiends, and supercomputers designed only to kill. She's never died before like other muses with muns like hers, as surprising as that is, but she feels this is something worth dying for. She can only pray it won't be in vain. ]

If you must tell him anything, tell him then that he is the same man he used to be in his heart of hearts and that I have faith in that.

Now enough with your banter, King.

[goldenmaster]

[The only immediate response Cecil gets is a slight shifting of the weapons around Gilgamesh as he moves forward several whose specialty is piercing barriers like those she has just cast. One crimson spear near his right shoulder might look familiar to her if she is as close to this other version of his servant as she claims to be, since it is the predecessor of the weapon said servant carries. Only, as with all predecessors, this weapon's magic piercing capabilities far outstrip those of its current incarnation.

It will have no problems piercing any magic, even magic as foreign as Cecil's is.]

If you truly wish your last words to him to be ones that will cause him so much pain, then rejoice for the King has seen fit to grant your wish.

Now, be gone.

[With those words, several weapons fire out of the gate and toward Cecil. Interestingly enough, that familiar red spear is not among them. It, instead, remains in position over the King's right shoulder. Waiting.]

[proteusmoon]

[ The sight of the spear makes her wary, indeed, but she doesn't run when the other weapons shoot towards her. She deflects most and dodges the others, surviving without a strenuous amount of effort being applied. However, she eyes the spear, remembering the ability Diarmuid told her it has. She's not so much afraid of injury and death as she is of what Gilgamesh will do with it, since he has not yet chosen to use it against her. He obviously loves inflicting pain on his servant not least of all and that's what worries her most about the spear presence. ]

[goldenmaster]

[She is a cockroach then, like so many of her brother white knights. Can't even have the courtesy to die quickly. For mere seconds, Gilgamesh's lips press into a thin line of displeasure before his usual neutral expression returns. Reaching over his shoulder, he pulls Gae Dearg's predecessor into his hands, fingers running over it in a very possessive and appraising manner.

It is no Ea or Enkidu, but she is not worthy of their wrath anyway. Besides, the fool would not understand their importance. This, though, she has already recognized. He can see it in her eyes.]

You understand now don't you, mongrel? It is not that I will be killing you. This weapon....

[His hands slide up and down the shaft almost as if he's petting it.]

A version of it will become part of him someday. It will be much weaker then, but it will be a part of him. It will not be me that kills you. It will be him. The weapon that will be his hands. The weapon that will be part of his soul.

What do you think that will do to him? It should be interesting to see.

[proteusmoon]

[ Cecil hates that he has this power, both over herself and over Diarmuid. She hates that she has no other choice but one now. She may not like that she has to run, but perhaps it is better that she loses his fight on her own terms rather than on Gilgamesh's. If either way she will end up hurting Diarmuid, it's best she choose the option that will cause him less pain, isn't it? She suffers no illusions; she cannot survive a volley of all of the King of Heroes' treasures. Eventually, she will tire and her body will give up from exhaustion, even if she deigns to fight until the very last scrap of will she contains. ]

Your arrogance renders you a coward. You won't have the pleasure of finding out.

[ It's a halfhearted insult, but then Cecil has never been one for sharp words. She doesn't put her sword away, but she does work hard and fast to center herself and mutter a prayer that will protect her from attacks while it finishes casting. A sheath of light builds around her and before long, she's gone. ]

[goldenmaster]

[Gilgamesh watches with a slight smirk as the light from her teleportation fades. It is no surprise to him that she runs. It is really the only semi-intelligent thing she could have done.

And even calling it that is generous of him.

However, this only proves what he has always told his servant. No one cares for him. There is only one who he should ever look to.

His master. His king.

Gilgamesh's hands caress the spear he is still holding before returning it to the Gate with merely a thought. He then disappears in his own shower of light.

Of course, the big difference between her exit and his is he is not running.

He is the victor. As it will always be.]