Gilgamesh was dead.
Not dead like when he had died in the mystic realm.
Not dead like when he had been killed by the power of truth.
Not dead like when he had taken his own life as the 'Absolute Authority.'
No.
He was dead. There was no longer a 'Gilgamesh' in existence within the Bookspace.
His fading soul lingered still, without identity, without substance-- without nature. He could not see or hear, nor could he feel or think. He was nothing.
He could not know how long he had been nothing, until eventually a change came about.
He became a little feather, and that little feather returned to the Bookspace as if it had been there all along.
As it materialized, its form shifted from a tiny white feather, to a young man.
This young man was Gilgamesh, donning golden armor. His hair was short and blonde, his eyes crimson and bright. There was a glint in them that could never be dull.
However, there was nothing behind those bright eyes. There was no flavor to his soul.
'What is this feeling...?' He wondered.
'Why do I feel so... empty?'
When he looked around, he saw himself within an Infinite Emptiness. He could see the outline of four giant Books, all pressed tightly together as their Pages overlapped.
He could see a giant red Speck, slowly becoming white again. The Bright Speck.
He also saw a giant shape in the emptiness, that itself looked empty and null. The Dark Speck.
Gilgamesh realized where he was, but not how he had gotten there.
It was at that moment, as he was looking around, that he noticed he was firmly holding something in his hand.
As he cast a curious gaze downward, he saw the sword, Samael, in all its glory.
Only...
He could not remember it feeling so heavy.
Was his memory still muddled?
He raised the sword and twisted it about, but could not, for the life of him, figure out why it was so heavy.
It was exactly the same as he remembered it.
While inspecting it, he gasped. A thought surfaced- a purpose he had been neglecting all this time.
He looked again to the Bright Speck, and this time the memories returned.
Not in part, but all at once.
Ateah was taken by the Bright Speck, to be tortured until she was forced to submit.
He had to save her.
She was his little sister. His precious Little Feather...
Little Feather...
The name triggered memories he had not been aware of previously.
Memories that he thought lost to him.
These memories did not just belong to the soul he had discarded. They also belonged to the new soul he had nurtured.
This soul had been present, even back when he had first met Ateah.
She was a baby then, and had been brought to the sect by a caravan of travelling merchants.
Her parents had sold her to be raised as a slave. The merchants gave her to the sect, to become a servant.
Gilgamesh had been there, when everyone else refused to take care of a needy little baby.
He had taken her to Miss Nightshade, and promised to take care of her. He gave her of his own food, having little for himself.
He suffered untold shame by working under horrid sect disciples, never complaining as long as he was doing it for her. Of the money he earned, almost none of if was spent on himself.
He worked himself to the bone, and still found time to teach her everything she needed to know.
When she was bullied, he fought for her and, no matter how much bigger and stronger the older servants were, he never lost.
Some Outer Disciples tried to abduct her when she showed signs of premature beauty, and Gilgamesh fought against them with all his might and skill.
Regardless of how badly he was beaten, he did not back down. He would suffer eternally, as long as he could keep her safe.
As soon as he was given the chance, he got his revenge against those Outer Disciples.
All for her.
Ateah was the most important person to him at the time. She was his sole reason for continuing to live as a nobody.
Long before he decided to try to use Andromeda to strengthen his soul.
In fact, Ateah was his reason for attempting to restore himself in the first place.
As all these memories were resurfacing, a question did as well.
Why? Why her? Why had he done so much for her?
He still possessed his memories as the Absolute Authority during that time. So what had he seen in her that sparked this behaviour?
What was the reason?
As he digested all those memories, the answer came to him.
There was no reason.
He had adopted and raised her as his little sister. That was all there was to it.
He loved her, and she loved him.
Gilgamesh tightened his grip around Samael even more, and rushed toward the Bright Speck.
"Give her back to me!!!"
It was only when he did this that the other beings in the Infinite Emptiness felt his presence.
When they did, they were gripped by fear and overcome with shock.
Not because they saw Gilgamesh coming toward them.
No.
Because the power they felt emanating from the sword he held.
This power was leaking out into the entire Bookspace, and demanding its subservience.
This was the power of the 12th and final Gilgamesh.
All of it was contained within that sword. The power that the Bright Speck wanted more than anything.
That was the key to it ascending. Out of the Bookspace.
Into the Beginningless Library, whatever that was.
Gilgamesh's roar shook the Emptiness, and the Bright Speck flashed a bright red before blue and green colors filled it.
"He has the sword! She's brought him back with it!"
The Bright Speck cried out to Arthur and Merlin. It was afraid.
Gilgamesh approached it, and his fighting spirit suddenly vanished entirely.
Adrift in the empty space, coming from the direction of the Bright Speck, he saw a limp and lifeless figure.
Her dirty brown hair was strewn about; her eyes were shut as though she was sleeping peacefully.
Her skin was pale and dry, but there were still lingering traces of tears.
Gilgamesh could no longer move.
This was Ateah, dead before him.
Whatever was left of his world was shattered. Whatever soul he had been nurturing regressed.
His life force shrunk, and his strength left him. He was barely able to keep his grip on the sword.
Ateah's body drifted toward him, as if under the guidance of some perverted force, wanting to make Gilgamesh suffer more.
He did not want her to get any closer. He was afraid that, if she came any closer, he would have no choice but to come to terms with her death.
But he did not want to.
Just a little longer.
He wanted the shock, fear, fury, hatred, dread, sadness and pain to carry on.
He wanted to stop himself from accepting it for as long as he could. If he could, then perhaps he would be able to bring her back.
If only he refused to accept her death, then it was always possible that she could live again.
Not so?
When Arthur and Merlin arrived by their Master's side, they saw Gilgamesh, motionless and shellshocked.
He was just there, suspended in space, staring at Ateah's corpse.
The two felt a mixture of unpleasant feelings, and did nothing.
The Bright Speck was stiff with fear. It did not dare to do anything, because the powerful fluctuations coming from within the sword never diminished.
All three of them looked at the young man with varying emotions.
Gigamesh suddenly gasped.
Ateah's body had drifted further and bumped into him.
He felt her, cold to the touch, and weaker than even the tiniest ant; there was no life in her-- no strength.
Nothing.
By the time Gilgamesh acknowledged this, he was already weeping.
"...Ateah... no... you can't be..."
He choked on his melancholy. His voice shattered against itself frequently, quivering.
He brought her face to his own, and pressed it against his cheek, wetting her with his own tears.
"Ateah... please, wake up... Big Brother's here now... Wake up... Please?"
He buried his face deep into hers.
He already knew she could not wake up.
"Ateah..."
"Little Feather..."
"It's all my fault... I'm so sorry..."
"ATEAH!!! NOO!!! PLEASE!!!"
Gilgamesh bawled, filling all of the Bookspace with his bitter cries.
He squeezed her body against his own, and shouted, screamed, wailed and wept.
His little sister was dead, and he was most to blame. He had no choice but to accept that.
However, even though he was distraught, he was still himself.
He had long mobilized the power within the sword in an attempt to restore her to life.
Still, he was unable to.
How could he use Ateah to revive Ateah? She had given all of herself so he could live, becoming the very power that dwelled in the sword.
She could no longer exist as herself. All she was now, was pure power.
This time, he was destined to fail in his duty as her Big Brother.
As Gilgamesh wept, the Bright Speck suddenly flashed a series of vibrant, triumphant colors.
"Now is my chance. If I can just take the sword from him..."
Sounding focused, it reached out with it's bright white energy and tried to take hold of the sword.
Gilgamesh did not even realize this. He simply felt a strange aura getting close to Ateah's corpse, and he lashed out with the sword, purely instinctively.
Samael cut apart the bright energy, and sent a terrifying backlash to the Bright Speck, causing it to shriek in agony.
As it reeled, splotches of brightly colored light were ejected from it, as though it were coughing up blood.
Arthur and Merlin were in shock.
Gilgamesh's eyes were doubly red from the incessant crying, and the animalistic rage in them was at an all-time high.
Holding Ateah's corpse close to him, he gave a vicious snarl.
"In all of existence, only one thing has been born that I value more than myself-- than my own life."
"Her name was Ateah... Ateah Gilgamesh..."
"She was my little sister, whom I loved with all my soul."
Still clutching her body to him, Gilgamesh lifted the sword in his hand.
"You," he pointed to the Bright Speck, "took her from me."
"Now, there is nothing anywhere that I value. Nothing exists that I hold dear anymore."
Hearing these words, the Bright Speck realized that Gilgamesh was prepared to destroy the entire Bookspace, if he could.
Without knowing the limits of the 12th's power, it could not rule out the possibility!
"Without her, existence is flawed. No matter what price I have to pay, I will wipe the slate clean!"
Arthur and Merlin were taken aback, then, with Gilgamesh's next words, dumdfounded fear and panic struck them.
"I don't care anymore..."
"If my little sister cannot exist... then I will not permit the existence of anything else!
Gilgamesh moved. Samael cut a path through space, and tore a hole in the fundamental reality of the Bookspace.
With this one move, Gilgamesh was showing them what he was resolved to do.
He was prepared to kill them all.
Himself included.