At Gilgamesh's behest, Wyg and Law opened another breach in space-time, allowing them to return to the sect.
Little Feather wished to say goodbye to Miss Nightshade.
When they arrived at her abode, Miss Nightshade was just sitting down with some servant girls, serving them lunch.
Little Feather looked at the other servants, and her heart ached as she realized she wouldn't be seeing them again for a very, very long time.
Gilgamesh felt no particular emotions, but he was not ungrateful. Miss Nightshade had played a big part in his survival back when he had descended as a baby.
If it wasn't for her, his life would have likely gone totally different. He was vulnerable in that lifetime, as he had possessed his memories but not his inherent nature.
He couldn't have tapped into his power.
As Little Feather, Miss Nightshade and the others said their goodbyes, a thought came to Gilgamesh.
'Hm? Wait, if I possessed my memories back then... Why did I need a cultivation manual? Did I not cultivate during my first life?'
Of course, the Omniscient Author had no idea what to say. It knew absolutely nothing about Gilgamesh's first life.
'How many Books of Existence have there been?' Gilgamesh chose to ask a different question.
'I couldn't possibly know tha- Huh? Oh... Oh!'
Hearing the Omniscient Author's excited thoughts in his mind, Gilgamesh was puzzled.
'There's no way I should know the answer to such a question... but somehow I do. What a crazy world!'
The Omnisciemt Author was elated; it could not fight the urge to celebrate a bit.
'Throughout time, there will be Four Books of Existence. The Third and Fourth Exist in the Future, and the First exists in the past, where it was conquered by you.'
'Strangely enough, the outermost reality that contains all these Books is composed of a nature that I cannot identify. All I know is that, while the Four Books exist in differing points in Time, they also coexist at the exact same moment.'
'Truly strange.'
Gilgamesh frowned, 'So if you think about it like an actual book, there just one script but four editions?'
'Exactly!' the Omniscient Author exclaimed, glad to have such a sharp witted Master.
Gilgamesh was counfounded by the implications of such a concept.
Did this mean that his past self also existed concurrently with his current self? Did his future selves also exist at this same moment?
Could all those versions trascend the very Nature of Time in order to meet?
He could not quite wrap his head around it, and it concerned secrets of a level that the Omniscient Author was unable to fathom.
It was clear to see, though, that the Omniscient Author's knowledge had increased.
This was, without a doubt, a side-effect of it being in close contact with Gilgamesh's inherent nature.
"Gilgamesh," Miss Nightshade called out to him.
"Hm?" He was snapped out of his thoughts and looked over to her.
She was standing with Little Feather within her courtyard; the other servants had already left.
"I know that you don't remember me, so I won't try to force anything. I'll just give this back to you..."
Miss Nightshade reached into her clothes and took out a tiny white cube, seemingly made of smooth, polished stone or iron.
Gilgamesh accepted the item with confusion written on his face. Even Little Feather was perplexed, as she had never seen the item before.
"When you were brought to me from the wilderness, you were around seven months old. The moment you opened your eyes, you were capable of speech. Did you know that?"
Miss Mightshade smiled warmly as she reminisced, and Gilgamesh and Little Feather listened attentively.
"You congratulated me on being the first mortal you saw in your new life. I was horrified at first, and thought you were possessed by a demon. You convinced me otherwise, though."
"Anyway... You gave this item to me when I fell sick one time. You said it was something that could only belong to you, but as you were not able to use it yet, you could give it to me for a time."
"You told me it would keep me healthy, and it has. I haven't been ill or suffered a single ailement in nineteen years because of it."
Gilgamesh accepted the small cube from Miss Nightshade, noticed a ridge in it that looked like it could be opened.
Little Feathet came over and stuck her face into Gilgamesh's hands, trying to get a closer look at the little white cube.
"I had thought that you would tell me when you were ready to have it back, but now that you can't remember anything, I figured I should return it anyway."
Gilgamesh nodded, "Thank you, Miss Nightshade."
The aged woman smiled, but there was a ripple of melancholy in her eyes that she rapidly blinked away.
"Thank you, Gilgamesh. I wish you both good luck on your journey."
They departed through the very breach they arrived in, leaving Miss Nightshade in her courtyard dazed.
The melancholic tears she had been beating back suddenly emerged, and they poured forth without end.
"I wish that you could've called me Mom... one last time."
The breach closed, and she knew that her wish would not be coming true.
Gilgamesh and Little Feather were gone. Pretty soon, they would leave the Page altogether.
Back in the dead Domain of Light, Wyg and Law watched as Gilgamesh and Little Feather returned.
"Said your goodbyes?"
Little Feather nodded. Gilgamesh gave them a light nod and refocused on the little white cube.
'Author, do you recognize this thing?'
'Hmm.... Hmmmm.....'
'Hmmmm.....'
The Omniscient Author made a big deal of pondering the identity of the cube, as if it did not want Gilgamesh to feel as though the process was easy.
The fact was, however, that it was easy. It was very easy.
Suddenly, the Omniscient Author gasped and caused Gilgamesh to be startled.
'This couldn't be...'
'The Magic Cube!'
Gilgamesh was instantly delighted. So the Omniscient Author knew what it was?
'What is this Magic Cube? Tell me everything!'
'Well, the Magic Cube is a paramount soul treasure. In fact, it's considered to be one the Three Heavenly Treasures that look down on even the Heavens themselves!'
Gilgamesh was ecstatic from the moment he heard 'soul treasure.' This was exactly what he needed!
'Incredible. So this little cube is that amazing?'
The Omniscient Author was silent, but it let out a "Pfft," sound.
'Author?' Gilgamesh frowned, not liking the feeling he was getting.
'What's the matter with you? I need to know more.'
'PAHAHAHA!!!' All of a sudden, the Omniscient Author burst into stupendous, psychotic laughter.
'Ahh, just fucking with you, Master. That isnt the Magic Cube. I have no idea what it is. made all that shit up.'
'Heh, heh, get pranked.'
The Omniscient Author seemed rather proud of itself. Gilgamesh was left to wonder whether or not he had had an influence on it.
It seemed to have randomly become... an asshole.
Disregarding the Omniscient Author, Gilgamesh put his hand on the cube and tried to pry it open.
He had tried this before, but this time his eyes began to glow and his aura emerged, instantly filling the entire domain.
There were mutiple cracks as the space within the Domain began to shatter, startling Wyg, Law and Little Feather.
Gilgamesh held nothing of his inherent nature back.
Even so, he could not pry open the little white cube.
He was furious.
"This fucking thing!"
With all his might, he aimed at the floor and tossed the cube, creating a massive crater in the floor and further decimating the space-time of the Domain.
All three of them looked at Gilgamesh as though he was losing it.
As for the little cube, it was completely unscathed.
Gilgamesh sucked his teeth and picked it up, putting it away without a second thought.
It was infuriating to even look at now.
"Big Brother, you need to work on those anger issues. Just because something doesn't go your way isn't an excuse to lose it like that, okay?"
Gilgamesh grumbled in response.
"Okay!?" Littlr Feather stomped her little foot and glared at Gilgamesh, half-serious.
"Okay, Ateah. Whatever you say," Gilgamesh smiled and ruffled her hair. Little Feather gave a pleased smile and stood at Gilgamesh's side.
Looking up at the white sky, they both felt the urge to rush toward it.
"Let's get going then," Gilgamesh said to Wyg and Law.
"We can't come with you." Law stated.
"This is your Tribulation of Surrender. As Domain Lords, we can only go back to our own pages from here."
"Oh," Gilgamesh nodded.
"You'll get to us eventually. Until then, have fun. Be sure to wreak havoc in the next Domain." Law laughed.
Wyg shook his head at Law before offering up his own parting words, "Hopefully, when we meet again, you can show me an even sexier tribulation."
Gilgamesh took Little Feather's hand and brought her into the air with him.
After flying into the open white sky of the Tribulation of Surrender, Gilgamesh and Little Feather entered a world of blankness.
As this was happening, the finger in Gilgamesh's sea of energy was having thoughts of its own.
Though it was able to talk to itself, Gilgamesh could only hear its words and converse with it if he was unconscious.
'There's a thing that can restrict even me? I know I'm not at full power, but the very concept of me should be able to force any divine tool to submit.'
'Although, I guess the most important question is...'
'Why didn't I tell myself about this cube...?'