Interlude: Perseus
Charles Flynn
I trust you know where the happy button is?
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They're swarming the walls.
Waves upon waves of Demonic Beasts clambering up the walls, no matter How vigorously we push them off. The sea of beasts stretches out as far as the eye can see, and I can find no end to it. I kick another one off the battlements, and then groan as five more of them fight to take its place.
"This is the end, isn't it?" I ask Sigmund, standing at my side. "We're going to be overrun."
"Yes." I can't see it through that absurdly thick moustache of his, but I can tell that he's grinning. "A good death, even so."
Crazy Norsemen. I return my attention to the field of battle, cutting down another Urdimmu, when I hear one of the soldiers shout out. "Girtablilu! Girtablilu is commanding the enemy!"
"Where, soldier?" Sigmund asks, storming over to the man that spoke. He points and Sigmund turns towards where the scorpion-bodied woman stands, at the heart of the enemy, over a mile away from the front lines.
Sigmund draws his blade. "All the world shall know that unborn I spoke but one vow, that I would flee neither fire nor iron from fear, and so I have done until now. I will not break it now."
"Sigmund?" I ask, as the swarm starts to clamber up the walls. "What are you doing?"
"Hold the walls, Perseus! And I will take her head!" and then he takes a running start and jumps into the sea of demonic beasts, moving like lightning as he carves a path towards Girtablilu.
I almost lunge in to help him, but then-
I wake up to the seventh murder attempt on me by Uruk's stray cat population. One of them is curled up on my face, blocking off my airways in an attempt to smother me for being late in feeding them. I pull the little bastard off, yawn, and get up out of bed, before I go to my morning routine, which mostly consists of feeding stray cats, and the occasional stray dog. After all, I'm a Servant, it's not like I need my food rations. Strictly, I don't need sleep, either, but it's good for my mental health.
I frown as I make my way to the ziggurat, to check in with my Master for today's assignment. I haven't dreamed of the day Sigmund died in a while. I have to wonder, now, why is he back to haunting my subconscious?
An answer comes to the fore, as I use the Sandals of Hermes to bypass a traffic jam. The Master of Chaldea.
I didn't see much of him, during our failed attempt at a welcoming party last night. But what I did see… what little I saw of him reminded me of Sigmund. Driven and half-mad. Significantly less impressive facial hair, though, although it is kind of hard to top the guy whose moustache functions as a Noble Phantasm.
Well, the similarities probably become less striking once you get to know him, and I do hope that I'll actually get to introduce myself to him the next time we meet. He just brushed us off when we set up that welcoming party. I mean, I do understand, I heard from Siduri that he had a very trying day, but still, it was a bit hurtful, even if I'm sure he didn't mean it that way.
Soon, I'm back in the ziggurat. (I did stop to help a few people, which slowed me down a bit.) King Gilgamesh is already at it, lines bearing countless petitions to him, which he reviews himself.
"Perseus." He glares at me. "You're late."
"Oh, well, I was making good time, but there was a cat-"
"Save it. I'll need you back on the ADF. We're anticipating another assault within the next two months."
"Will the beasts' bitch of goddess be showing her face?" Diomedes growls as he steps into the room, his face split into a feral grin. "I've been wanting to take a stab at her."
"No, Berserker. Merlin has deemed that unlikely."
I clear my throat. "Um… will Merlin be joining us today?"
"No. He's been formulating plans to deal with a separate issue since yesterday afternoon," the King says. "Now, you are free to meet with Chaldea before you leave. They will…"
"My King!" Siduri shouts as she runs into the throne room, sweating and panting. She looks utterly terrified. "Chaldea- Chaldea-"
"Siduri!" Gilgamesh bellows, rising to his feet and steadying her. "What happened?"
"Chaldea left."
The room goes silent. I think that particular revelation caught even Gilgamesh by surprise. Eventually, he breaks the silence, his voice more subdued than I've ever heard him. "What?"
"Chaldea left," Siduri repeats. "when I gave them their work order, they took it as an insult and stormed out."
"I see." Gilgamesh makes his way back to his throne and sits down hard. "Then we will make do without them."
I'm not sure even he believes that. From the start, the plan was always to hold out until Chaldea arrived. They were the cavalry, and now? Now they were here, and they'd deserted us.
"Perseus." I snap to attention as my King looks at me. "I have changed your assignment. You will seek out Chaldea, in the guise of a traveler. In that same guise, you will feed them information. Even if they will not work with us, I will not have them blunder around in ignorance. Try to direct them towards Kutha, and the jungle to the south."
"Sir, Odysseus still hasn't reported back in since we sent him there," I remind him.
"I doubt that he would allow himself to die so easily," Gilgamesh insists, with a negligent wave of his hand. "And the same applies to Chaldea. If they are above proving themselves to me, then surely such obstacles are beneath them."
"If you say so, sir."
"Afterwards, you will return to me, and tell me what you have observed of Chaldea."
"Understood."
And then I'm off.
It takes me two days to find the Chaldeans. When I do, they've set up camp a ways away from Mt. Ebih, so I land, switch over to the traveller's disguise I made sure to bring with me, and walk up to them on foot.
"Hallo the camp!" I shout, prompting a brief commotion as the Servants draw their weapons. "I mean no harm, I simply wondered if you were willing to share a meal with a weary wanderer!"
"You're welcome to join us!" the Master of Chaldea calls after a brief deliberation.
I join them at the campfire, and they pour me a bowl of stew.
"This is good," I note, after I've had a taste or two. "What's it called?"
"Urdimmu stew," my host says, utterly deadpan, before smirking as I spit-take. "So, may I ask if this weary wanderer has a name?"
"I'm-" shit, can't give him my real name. Persi? No, too similar. Ah, screw it. What was the name of that one-eyed traveler in the story Sigmund tried to tell me that one time? "Gagngrad."
The Master of Chaldea raises an eyebrow. "Well, then. Tell me Gagngrad, since on the hall-floor you wish to test your skill, what brings you to this place?"
"Oh, just a love of travel," I say blithely looking askance at him. Seriously, why is he talking so weird all of a sudden? "May I ask your name?"
"Charles Flynn," he says, looking a bit disappointed. "So, mind telling me what you know about the region? Since you seem to be rather knowledgeable."
From there, he picks my brains for every detail I can give him. I slip up once or twice, but I don't think he noticed.
"Well, it certainly sounds like we should head to the jungles of Eridu, then," he says at last.
"What's this about Eridu?" the goddess Ishtar asks us as she flies into the camp, and I try my damnedest not to shit myself.
"Oh, Gagngrad here was just telling me about the jungle that's sprung up around Eridu, and I thought that perhaps we should pay it a visit to see what we can see." Flynn smiles at me. "Isn't that right, Gagngrad?"
"Um… yes," I manage, trying not to stare at Ishtar as I sweat bullets. A goddess. Flynn recruited a goddess. I've got to tell Gilgamesh. "But I really have to get going now. People to see, places to be. Thank you for the stew." And then I book it, my sandals sprouting wings once I'm out of their view.
Gilgamesh must be told.
Waves upon waves of Demonic Beasts clambering up the walls, no matter How vigorously we push them off. The sea of beasts stretches out as far as the eye can see, and I can find no end to it. I kick another one off the battlements, and then groan as five more of them fight to take its place.
"This is the end, isn't it?" I ask Sigmund, standing at my side. "We're going to be overrun."
"Yes." I can't see it through that absurdly thick moustache of his, but I can tell that he's grinning. "A good death, even so."
Crazy Norsemen. I return my attention to the field of battle, cutting down another Urdimmu, when I hear one of the soldiers shout out. "Girtablilu! Girtablilu is commanding the enemy!"
"Where, soldier?" Sigmund asks, storming over to the man that spoke. He points and Sigmund turns towards where the scorpion-bodied woman stands, at the heart of the enemy, over a mile away from the front lines.
Sigmund draws his blade. "All the world shall know that unborn I spoke but one vow, that I would flee neither fire nor iron from fear, and so I have done until now. I will not break it now."
"Sigmund?" I ask, as the swarm starts to clamber up the walls. "What are you doing?"
"Hold the walls, Perseus! And I will take her head!" and then he takes a running start and jumps into the sea of demonic beasts, moving like lightning as he carves a path towards Girtablilu.
I almost lunge in to help him, but then-
---
I wake up to the seventh murder attempt on me by Uruk's stray cat population. One of them is curled up on my face, blocking off my airways in an attempt to smother me for being late in feeding them. I pull the little bastard off, yawn, and get up out of bed, before I go to my morning routine, which mostly consists of feeding stray cats, and the occasional stray dog. After all, I'm a Servant, it's not like I need my food rations. Strictly, I don't need sleep, either, but it's good for my mental health.
I frown as I make my way to the ziggurat, to check in with my Master for today's assignment. I haven't dreamed of the day Sigmund died in a while. I have to wonder, now, why is he back to haunting my subconscious?
An answer comes to the fore, as I use the Sandals of Hermes to bypass a traffic jam. The Master of Chaldea.
I didn't see much of him, during our failed attempt at a welcoming party last night. But what I did see… what little I saw of him reminded me of Sigmund. Driven and half-mad. Significantly less impressive facial hair, though, although it is kind of hard to top the guy whose moustache functions as a Noble Phantasm.
Well, the similarities probably become less striking once you get to know him, and I do hope that I'll actually get to introduce myself to him the next time we meet. He just brushed us off when we set up that welcoming party. I mean, I do understand, I heard from Siduri that he had a very trying day, but still, it was a bit hurtful, even if I'm sure he didn't mean it that way.
Soon, I'm back in the ziggurat. (I did stop to help a few people, which slowed me down a bit.) King Gilgamesh is already at it, lines bearing countless petitions to him, which he reviews himself.
"Perseus." He glares at me. "You're late."
"Oh, well, I was making good time, but there was a cat-"
"Save it. I'll need you back on the ADF. We're anticipating another assault within the next two months."
"Will the beasts' bitch of goddess be showing her face?" Diomedes growls as he steps into the room, his face split into a feral grin. "I've been wanting to take a stab at her."
"No, Berserker. Merlin has deemed that unlikely."
I clear my throat. "Um… will Merlin be joining us today?"
"No. He's been formulating plans to deal with a separate issue since yesterday afternoon," the King says. "Now, you are free to meet with Chaldea before you leave. They will…"
"My King!" Siduri shouts as she runs into the throne room, sweating and panting. She looks utterly terrified. "Chaldea- Chaldea-"
"Siduri!" Gilgamesh bellows, rising to his feet and steadying her. "What happened?"
"Chaldea left."
The room goes silent. I think that particular revelation caught even Gilgamesh by surprise. Eventually, he breaks the silence, his voice more subdued than I've ever heard him. "What?"
"Chaldea left," Siduri repeats. "when I gave them their work order, they took it as an insult and stormed out."
"I see." Gilgamesh makes his way back to his throne and sits down hard. "Then we will make do without them."
I'm not sure even he believes that. From the start, the plan was always to hold out until Chaldea arrived. They were the cavalry, and now? Now they were here, and they'd deserted us.
"Perseus." I snap to attention as my King looks at me. "I have changed your assignment. You will seek out Chaldea, in the guise of a traveler. In that same guise, you will feed them information. Even if they will not work with us, I will not have them blunder around in ignorance. Try to direct them towards Kutha, and the jungle to the south."
"Sir, Odysseus still hasn't reported back in since we sent him there," I remind him.
"I doubt that he would allow himself to die so easily," Gilgamesh insists, with a negligent wave of his hand. "And the same applies to Chaldea. If they are above proving themselves to me, then surely such obstacles are beneath them."
"If you say so, sir."
"Afterwards, you will return to me, and tell me what you have observed of Chaldea."
"Understood."
And then I'm off.
---
It takes me two days to find the Chaldeans. When I do, they've set up camp a ways away from Mt. Ebih, so I land, switch over to the traveller's disguise I made sure to bring with me, and walk up to them on foot.
"Hallo the camp!" I shout, prompting a brief commotion as the Servants draw their weapons. "I mean no harm, I simply wondered if you were willing to share a meal with a weary wanderer!"
"You're welcome to join us!" the Master of Chaldea calls after a brief deliberation.
I join them at the campfire, and they pour me a bowl of stew.
"This is good," I note, after I've had a taste or two. "What's it called?"
"Urdimmu stew," my host says, utterly deadpan, before smirking as I spit-take. "So, may I ask if this weary wanderer has a name?"
"I'm-" shit, can't give him my real name. Persi? No, too similar. Ah, screw it. What was the name of that one-eyed traveler in the story Sigmund tried to tell me that one time? "Gagngrad."
The Master of Chaldea raises an eyebrow. "Well, then. Tell me Gagngrad, since on the hall-floor you wish to test your skill, what brings you to this place?"
"Oh, just a love of travel," I say blithely looking askance at him. Seriously, why is he talking so weird all of a sudden? "May I ask your name?"
"Charles Flynn," he says, looking a bit disappointed. "So, mind telling me what you know about the region? Since you seem to be rather knowledgeable."
From there, he picks my brains for every detail I can give him. I slip up once or twice, but I don't think he noticed.
"Well, it certainly sounds like we should head to the jungles of Eridu, then," he says at last.
"What's this about Eridu?" the goddess Ishtar asks us as she flies into the camp, and I try my damnedest not to shit myself.
"Oh, Gagngrad here was just telling me about the jungle that's sprung up around Eridu, and I thought that perhaps we should pay it a visit to see what we can see." Flynn smiles at me. "Isn't that right, Gagngrad?"
"Um… yes," I manage, trying not to stare at Ishtar as I sweat bullets. A goddess. Flynn recruited a goddess. I've got to tell Gilgamesh. "But I really have to get going now. People to see, places to be. Thank you for the stew." And then I book it, my sandals sprouting wings once I'm out of their view.
Gilgamesh must be told.
