'As I slept last night, I had the oddest of dreams. It woke me, and I swear I felt the entire atmosphere in the manor change, yet all was well. It was quite strange to me.'
'I saw Young Master Gilgamesh standing just outside his room, staring out at the night sky. Only, it wasn't the night sky I knew. It was filled with blinding light, and twelve mighty stars hung in the clouds just above him, as if they were speaking to him.'
'I saw the Young Master stand tall as he conversed with them, and I could feel the world itself begin to revere him. In that moment, I knew the Twelve were granting him untold blessings. This world already belongs to him. It has been placed into his hands by the Twelve.'
'I can see the signs. In the future, he will become a man that brings prosperity to our world.'
Lara Shalaby's Thoughts As She Wakes|
When Gilgamesh woke, he thought back to the events of the night before. At first he had assumed that the Twelve had crafted a world wherein they could privately meet him, but it seemed that he had overestimated them.
Judging by the fact that he woke up as if from a dream, and that at least a few hours had passed, he deduced that they had actually approached him through a dream world.
With a smirk, Gilgamesh got himself cleaned up for the morning and decided to go down for breakfast with his parents. It had been a while since he had done something like that. When he opened his door, he heard a shriek and saw Angelica stumbling backwards.
Wearing a confused look, Gilgamesh stepped out and asked, "Good morning, Mother. Were you... eavesdropping?"
Angelica found her footing and pretended to lean against the railings, "Oh, nonsense, Gil! I was just... coming to see if you would join us for breakfast!"
Gilgamesh shook his head and started walking to the stairs. Waving his hand, he said, "Well you're in luck. I happen to miss the kitchen staff's wonderful cooking."
Angelica beamed with a bright smile and followed the young lad down the stairs and to the dining room. Logan was there already, waiting for Angelica, when he saw Gilgamesh enter.
Instantly, the exhaustion vanished from his face and he, too, started smiling.
"Good morning, Gil. You look more spirited than ever this morning."
"Good morning, Father. I think I am. I had quite an amusing dream last night. A bunch of self-absorbed children were harassing me, so I reminded them of their place."
Logan chuckled, "Sounds like quite an entertaining dream."
The family of three sat at the table and enjoyed a much needed conversation. In their own minds, they expressed just how glad they were to come together again after such a long while.
Once they had finished eating and reminiscing, Gilgamesh cleared his throat.
"Mother, Father, I wish to begin learning about magic."
Angelica stiffened and Logan shook his head, opening his mouth to, no doubt, repeat the same warning he had given to Gilgamesh when he was younger.
Gilgamesh stopped him before he could speak, " I know that you were initially worried about my spirit being harmed, but I can assure you now that such a thing is impossible."
Logan and Angelica did not know how to respond. On the one hand, that was a bold claim that no one with common sense would believe. On the other hand, Gilgamesh was the one that had spoken those words. How could they not believe him?
"How can you be sure?" Angelica asked this, sounding every bit the worried mother. Even if she was 100% sure of Gilgamesh, she would still worry for him.
"I have recovered a small portion of my spiritual power, as well as quite a few of my memories."
The two looked at each other and could feel each other's worry.
Raising Gilgamesh as their own was, without a doubt, the best thing they had ever experienced. However, they knew that he was nothing like a normal child. He was someone that had existed long before they were even born, perhaps even longer than their world had existed.
They knew that he had been cursed to spend an eternity in Hell; he himself had no idea just how long he had been there. They knew that, once he recovered enough and regained his faded memories, it was possible that he would begin treating them less like parents and more like people he was indebted to.
They were afraid that he was going to start acting like he was merely obligated to repay them, for taking care of him when he was a helpless baby.
They remained silent as he continued to speak.
"I know you two must be interested, so ask away. I see no point in keeping any of it a secret from my own parents."
Seeing the opportunity in front of her, Angelica bombarded Gilgamesh with all sorts of questions regarding his first life.
She asked him about where he grew up, what his parents were like, what stuff he liked to do, foods he enjoyed, places he loved going to. She pretty much asked until he could no longer answer; some things even he did not yet remember.
Logan had no questions, so he just listened and smiled with them- laughed with them. It was yet another warm moment for the three of them. As he looked between his wife and son, Logan felt his heart express deep yearning despite the fact that they were right in front of him.
He felt like they had suddenly gone somewhere that he could not reach, then had come back to him suddenly.
Not wanting to dwell on such a negative feeling, Logan cleared his throat and said, " I think I have some free time this afternoon. I can ask Omari to join us in the yard for your first magic lesson."
Gilgamesh smiled and nodded, wordlessly thanking his father.
"Until then," Angelica leaned toward Gilgamesh with a grin, "you're spending time with me to make up for all the time you spent cooped up in your room. Okay?"
"Of course, mother."
...
"Omari, could you get one of the magic monoliths and meet us in the yard?"
Logan was in the living room, staring out at the manor from the veranda. Omari had just brought him a cold drink when he asked him this, so he paused a little before complying.
Logan wondered just what kind of magic Gilgamesh would specialize in. He recalled how his eyes had glowed a bright silver color, and wondered if that had anything to do with his magical affinity.
He could not know just yet, so he prepared himself, finished his drink in one gulp, and made his way to the yard. Gilgamesh and Angelica were already there waiting for him, and he greeted them with an elated smile.
Gilgamesh had changed into a black vest and shorts, the same thing he would wear when training with Maximus.
Omari was right behind Logan with an object wrapped in aged cloth. Judging by how he held the object, it was clearly either valuable or important.
Gilgamesh noticed instantly, and prepared himself to soak in all the information he was about to receive.
Logan reached out and Omari handed the object to him. As he undid the cloth wrapping, he turned to Gilgamesh and started his lesson.
"Magic is the essence of the world we live in. It is the fundamental energy that generates everything we experience. From the moment we were created, magic has flowed through us- through our spirits. This is what identifies us to the world, and to Heaven. It is a sign of who we are."
Gilgamesh's eyes narrowed involuntarily. He did not like the sound of that.
"If we are to harness the magic within ourselves, we must contact the magic present in the world around us. In that moment of union, the affinity of your inner magic becomes apparent. Without that connection, you can never touch the element or force you were destined to utilize."
At this point, Logan had finished unwrapping the object. It was a miniature monolith of polished stone with a sharp tip, catching the light in such a way that it seemed to swallow it.
"This is a magic monolith. Beginners use this to learn how to sense the world's magic until they can do it themselves. You will use this to figure out what element or force your inner magic is most closely attuned to.
"How do I do that?" Gilgamesh approached his father, ready to conduct the test.
Angelica looked on in excitement, wondering the same thing Logan was. This would determine Gilgamesh's magic future. A person's affinity was everything.
"Prick your finger on the tip and let some of your blood run onto the monolith. For a few seconds, magic power will flow from the monolith into you, then back into the monolith again. Once it is withdrawn to the monolith, it will react accordingly, showing us your affinity."
Gilgamesh nodded, then did as he was instructed. He placed his finger onto the monolith's pointed tip and pressed down, but was shocked to find that it could not pierce his skin.
In less than a split second, Gilgamesh realized that he had overlooked something.
In his past life, he had never needed to go through any strength training because his two-thirds divine spirit granted him godly strength and durability. Now that his spirit was somewhat rekindled in this new body, it would naturally go through some changes.
Before anyone could notice, he used his own spirit to pierce a hole in his finger. No one notice anything, and so this secret remained kept. He did not yet want to reveal these things about himself. Part of him wanted to shock his parents by displaying his true power at a pivotal moment.
A bit of his blood ran down the body of the monolith until he removed his finger. They all watched as the blood seeped into the stone, drawn into it by the strange magic of the monolith. Just as the last drop of his blood vanished into the stone, a blue beam of light from the monolith flared toward Gilgamesh's forehead.
It landed there and he shut his eyes instantly. He could feel the energy entering him, trying to connect with his spirit.
It was cold, and a minor chill ran through his entire body before it finally accomplished its task. As the magic withdrew itself from his body, that chill was replaced with warmth that faded to nothing.
"Now, we wait," Logan said.
Gilgamesh opened his eyes at the same moment that the magic left him, and patiently waited for the monolith's reaction.
Angelica, Logan and Omari all held their breath. This was it. This was, arguably, the most important moment in Gilgamesh's life. What element or force would he have the strongest affinity with?
Suddenly, the monolith started to vibrate and emit a low ringing sound. "It's started," Logan almost yelled. He was excited, as were all of them.
The monolith's vibrations grew stronger and stronger, threatening to break away from Logan's hand. The ringing also became louder, and soon Angelica had to cover her ears. Even Omari was struggling and had to do the same. Only Gilgamesh and Logan were unaffected. They watched on with eyes wide open, not daring to miss a single moment of this.
Suddenly, the monolith stopped shaking and the ringing stopped. Immediately after that, it burst into blinding rays of silver light. Gilgamesh's eyes reacted to that light, and they also began to glow. Both the light from his eyes and from the monolith touched, and then the monolith's glow vanished.
All that remained now were his glowing silver eyes, and after a while they too grew dim.
Everyone was speechless, as was Gilgamesh. However, he simply did not know what this meant. He was waiting for Logan to tell him, but when he saw all of their reactions, he frowned.
"Is something wrong?" When he asked this question, he suddenly felt twelve powerful consciousnesses land on his body. The force was almost too much for his body to bear, but it had luckily already started to change thanks to his spirit.
Gilgamesh instantly looked toward Heaven.
Twelve voices combined into one, then spoke in his head.
"We would have to be suicidal to not stop 'Gilgamesh' from touching any of the elements or forces. Neutral Magic is all that remains for you now. Sadly, you can accomplish nothing with it. Maybe now you will realize that you have lost, and obediently await your return to Nether-Earth."
Annoyed, but still amused, Gilgamesh also spoke in his mind. "I am thankful that you won't be making this too easy for me. However, you have failed to consider one thing."
"And what is that," the Twelve snapped.
"Even the 'mighty gods' of my world would never have been stupid enough to let me touch 'neutral magic.' Why do you think that is?"
All of this happened in less than ten seconds, and his parents were still standing there, speechless.