A Vision of the Past

[Gilgamesh]

Day 1; 04:04 A.M. - Apartment District; Shinto, Fuyuki

The dreams of the King of Heroes were not as peaceful as they had once been. He witnessed a memory; his own memory, of his experiences from the Fourth Holy Grail War until his untimely end at the hands of Arturia Pendragon. Originally, the prodigy magus Tokiomi Tohsaka had called forth Gilgamesh as an Archer-class Servant, and the Golden Knight had existed as any other Servant, bound by the same rules and regulations governed by the Grail. He was capable of entering spirit form like any other Servant, and the only thing that truly separated him from the other six was his undeniable superiority. He had obeyed the whim of his Master so long as his pride was not injured, but it didn't take long before Tokiomi proved to be a most boring Master. To Gilgamesh, calling him forth without providing entertainment was a sin, and the stagnant fighting style of Tokiomi earned him the scorn of the King of Heroes.

This disdain for his boring Master had only been increased when the man's apprentice, Kirei Kotomine, had revealed a disturbing truth to Gilgamesh: originally, to use the Holy Grail to reach the Root - which was in-fact Tokiomi's goal - all seven Servants would be sacrificed. In other words, Tokimoi Tohsaka conservatively used his command seals so that he would always have two with which to force Gilgamesh to kill himself once the other Servants were defeated and their power resided in the Grail. Gilgamesh then allied himself with Kirei, who at the time still had a command seal and could contract with Gilgamesh. After allowing Kirei to assassinate his first, boring Master, Gilgamesh eventually destroyed the last Servant, the Saber-class Arturia Pendragon. In their battle, Gilgamesh became "tainted" with the mud of the Holy Grail, which had been said to contain all the evils of the world. Any lesser Heroic Spirit would have been corrupted, but Gilgamesh simply became more excitable, and was given a flesh-and-blood body to free him of his status as a Servant.

However, even with a body which served as a permanent anchor to the world, he needed prana in order to utilize his abilities. Kirei Kotomine was not a true magus, and so he could not provide prana in the usual manner of simply channeling it directly from Master to Servant. So, Kirei made arrangements, and Gilgamesh was satisfactorily fueled with prana, wine, and good food. Kirei let him live at the church, and Gilgamesh mostly kept to himself and amused himself as he saw fit. He became convinced in his decade long stay that humans were unworthy subjects, and would only dirty his garden that was the world. He wanted only unique individuals such as Heroic Spirits to exist in his world, and maybe humans who proved themselves interesting or enlightened. As the Fifth Heaven's Feel rolled around, Gilgamesh served as an eighth Servant due to his flesh-and-blood body and the fact he could no longer be called a Servant nor considered a slave to the Holy Grail or a Master.

And at the conclusion of the Fifth Holy Grail War, Gilgamesh was defeated because of one, simple fact: he underestimated his enemy, the King of Knights he had defeated ten years previously. She used a technique which bestowed upon her brief invincibility, and then struck him a fatal blow. He couldn't believe she had beaten him, but at the same time he had already known if he was to be beaten, it would be by her. He told her he accepted his defeat, and commented that "Some things are beautiful because you realize you cannot possess them. It was enjoyable, King of Knights." And with those words, the flesh-and-blood body of Gilgamesh returned to the Grail. And since then, he had lost his more...eccentric personality, though he remained haughty and arrogant, but he had learned a little from his experience. He would more readily accept that an enemy might be dangerous, though he knew most were unworthy...in the end, his defeat at Arturia's hands had reminded him of his brother and friend...and of himself.

Now, he awoke. As a Heroic Spirit once again bound by the Grail, he did not require sleep. He had attempted to rest himself purely because he had the whim to do so, but now he awoke in the still hours of the early morning. He had been woken from his dream...a dream that Servants could not have. So, had they simply been thoughts? He wasn't sure, and he also didn't much care. For one reason or another, Gilgamesh decided to stop trying to sleep, and got out of the king-sized bed. He didn't bother making the sheets...he didn't even know why he had tried to sleep. Perhaps it was a force of habit from having a body? He knew only one thing for sure: he wanted his flesh-and-blood body back. And in order to obtain that elusive goal, he would need to work with this talented-loser of a magus and take part in the War eventually.

Still, Gilgamesh refused to recognize even all six of the Servants that had been called forth in the Fourth Heaven's Feel as worthy of facing him. And so, with more than seven Servants practically guaranteed to reveal themselves, he concluded that even more trash would litter his garden until they each took it upon themselves to purge one another from his domain. With this thought in mind, he briefly disappeared in a brilliant, gentle spiral of golden light. And with a similar demonstration, he appeared on the roof of Yagami Apartment's penthouse suite. He looked upon his city, his world...and frowned. It hadn't changed much, but surely if things were this different now...something out there would entertain him.

...?

Gilgamesh turned his attention slightly to the East, feeling the faint, far-off presence of another Heroic Spirit. He didn't know what was going on, but apparently the presence had just then manifested, while the king had been looking out upon Shinto. For a moment, Gilgamesh considered waking his Master, but he decided against it. After all, she could not travel in spirit form, and Gilgamesh believed that she would slow him down if she tagged along. If his Master was truly as green as she seemed to be, then she needed all the rest she could get. With these thoughts in mind, the King of Heroes again disappeared as the golden light swallowed up his body.

[Veronica Barthomeloi]

Day 1; 04:14 A.M. - Apartment District; Shinto, Fuyuki

Her dreams, as always, failed to be vivid. While many could boast about their ability to recollect dreams, Veronica possessed no such talent. As her eyes flicker open, the young Master is immediately aware that it's far to early to be awake. As to what woke her, even she wasn't too sure. Her heart wasn't racing, so she didn't have a nightmare of any sorts. Tempted to turn around and return to her dreams, the magus briefly looks towards the clock. Four in the morning. She groans, about ready to turn over and return to sleep when she's struck by the absence of Gilgamesh's presence. Did that wake her?

Slowly, she sits herself upright, tossing away the covers of her bed. Pinching the bridge of her nose, the Barthomeloi struggles to break free from her fatigue. Stumbling away from her cot, her nails grasp onto a robe, tossing it over her sagged shoulders. Had he decided to take advantage of his freedom? Her eyes glance around the dark apartment, her hands fumbling for a light switch. When the lights do light the apartment, she flinches, looking towards the other bedroom. As she suspected, the door was left open and her Servant was nowhere to be seen. Pacing back to her room, the magus knows that sleep would be impossible now. Normally, she would have slept in or something of the sort. Needless to say, it didn't seem like she could be able to do that. A part of her underestimated the bound she had newly crafted. So long as Gilgamesh was away from her, her circuits would be more alert then ever, trying to track down the presence of her summoned Servant.

As she straps the ties on her coat, Veronica is interrupted from her thoughts with a very strong surge. Her command seal, still new, pulses. It recoils through her body, enough for the air to escape her lungs. Now she knew where Gilgamesh was. Of that, she was absolutely certain. Gritting her teeth, she grasps her saber, returning it to her holster as she rushes through the door. With no hesitation, the Magus barges through the sliding glass door to the balcony outside. Had anyone been watching, they would have screamed as the bold Master threw herself over the railings. Needless to say, she wasn't. As the Master lands on a lower building, she brushes her hands through her pink hair, looking more like she had taken a step off a staircase then several floors of a apartment complex.

Her razor sharp eyes trace the outline of the city, narrowing as she catches the softest indication of Gilgamesh's general direction. Her hands grasp the edge of her gloves, securing them tightly. She thought he had wanted to wait till someone was worthy of fighting, but judging from the strong power coming from the summoning, Gilgamesh had deemed this pair worthy of his time. “..Might as well see what you're up to.” She mutters. While she had promised him independence, the same went towards her. As of such, it was in her own interest that she travel onwards. With that in mind, there's the faintest indication of a smirk as Veronica Barthomeloi plummets off yet another rooftop.