Gilgamesh had no idea how to react.
He had encountered gods. Many claiming to call themselves 'God.'
Hell, he had spent most of his life struggling against those very beings. However, he had never actually come across a being that flat-out said it the way this 'Mother of Scriptures' had.
She simply told him, as though it was a matter of fact, that she was God.
There was no if, but or maybe. No room for debate. No additional details.
She was just... God.
Gilgamesh gulped, and he thought back. Soon enough, his melancholy returned, as did his budding self-hatred.
His brokenness had not left him. It could not.
The dancing fairies on the walls inched closer to Gilgamesh, but he cared less and less. Whenever he glanced in the direction of the little feather, he would instinctively look away.
"So... you're God? The God?"
The Mother of Scriptures nodded.
A glimmer of hope surfaced in his gaze, dying as soon as it was born.
"Then... what do you want with me?"
Gilgamesh averted his gaze from even God's empty eyes.
"Oh, nothing really. I had fun writing about you at first, but after yet another story of an evil character claiming victory over all, I got bored."
"So, I just decided to let the writing go free. Just to see where it would go."
Gilgamesh blinked, "Oh."
"Mhm. It was quite an interesting story. I think I might even have to name it."
Although he was curious, Gilgamesh had no real desire to ask questions. He picked up his broken sword as he sat down on the floor, and merely gazed off into space dazedly.
"I think I'll call it... the Epic of Gilgamesh! What do you all think?"
The Mother of Scriptures turned to her fairies, who showered her in their unending support of her choice.
Gilgamesh murmured to himself.
"It all started with an idea, you see, to create a character that was perfect- and knew they were perfect. However, I wanted that, in and of itself, to be the character's flaw."
"Thus, 'Gilgamesh' was born!"
Gilgamesh stopped paying any real attention.
One of the fairies noticed, and pointed a finger at him.
In a cruel and cold, yet saintly voice, it said, "When Mama speaks, you listen."
Instantly, a firmness surrounded Gilgamesh, constricting his body and soul, forcing his attention. His breathing ceased, and his thoughts and emotions all faded.
All he could do was listen, no matter how much he suffered.
His face went red, and his veins popped as a result of his failed attempts at struggling, but there was nothing he could do.
As if she didn't notice, God continued.
"I'll have you know, there were MANY versions of this story that I just could not continue. I had to rewrite everything from nothing over and over-- I even made some edits to the scripture while it was writing itself!"
"In the end, I finally drove the story in a good direction, and decided to let it write itself."
She smiled, but it was hard to tell since in Gilgamesh's eyes she was just a blank figure with very little features. "That was when you finally popped up."
"You were the 11th version of a recurring character model that I inserted into the scripture, long before I even got the idea to go back and change the rules so that there would only be 12 versions."
"The scripture ran wild, and you even wilder. Your life was quite exciting to witness, but it got stale after a while."
The Mother of Scriptures suddenly leaned forward, "But, as I was about to change the rules of the scripture just a little, you took charge of the story."
"Finally, I saw the very thing I was hoping to create. A perfect character, aware of its perfection, and that awareness being its downfall. How bittersweet!"
God laughed as Gilgamesh's desperately bit down on his lip. He wanted it to be over. He did not want to remember.
Soon, the cosmic fairies started giggling as well, joining in with their Mama.
Gilgamesh's emotions bubbled over once again, before being brutally constricted by the force upon him.
"Come now, Daughter, let him at least have him feelings. Those are the most vital parts of his character after all- PAHAHA!"
"Keehee!"
"Hahaha!"
"Kekekeke!"
Gilgamesh let out a breath, then desperately sucked in air like he'd gone mad. As he did so, his suppressed emotions struck him like a dagger to the heart.
Sadly, he had no more tears left to cry. He simply doubled over in silence, staring at nothing.
However, he made sure to pay attention to what God had to say.
The feeling of having all of himself bottled up and kept just beneath the surface, where he could barely sense it and never touch it, was another kind of torture.
Especially now that he was totally broken.
"You are one of my most interesting characters, and I did not even play a direct part in your development! That's remarkable, isn't it, Daughters?"
"Yup!"
"Remarkable!"
"That's our Mama!"
God nodded, satisfied.
"You know, the scripture I put you in was actually a trial run for a new Bookshelf concept. One where two extremes battles for supremacy and a chance to enter the Library to seek fortune."
"By extremes, I mean forces. The Bright and Dark Specks were two such forces, disappointing as they turned out to be. At least one of them proved a tad bit useful." God snickered.
Gilgamesh let everything soak in, but was unable to come to terms with it.
It was both a struggle to understand the concepts behind what had really taken place, as well as an unwillingness to believe that there could truly be a being such as God.
He always believed that there was always a way to go higher, so there could never truly be a peak.
However, the more he listened, the more he came to understand.
There were heights above heights, and peaks above peaks...
But God... The Mother of Scriptures...
Was beyond the peak.
"Anyway, I never thought you'd lose in the end. I can't believe you failed the little girl. Boo!" God mocked; Gilgamesh's heart stung.
The fairies blew raspberries and hurled insults at him, which did nothing to soften the blow.
Gilgamesh could not take much more.
"Please... just do whatever it is you want to do and be done with me..." He pleaded, shutting his eyes as the very last tears he could possibly generate fell.
The Mother of Scriptures held her head in her hand and tapped on the chair. "Hmm..."
The fairies copied her actions, looking like cute little devils, sent to torment Gilgamesh with their every action.
"Hmm..."
"Hmmmm..."
Finally, God perked up.
"Since you entertained me so well, and made me laugh harder than I have in almost three tredecillion years, I think I'll grant you passage into my Library."
Hearing this, the fairies all had big reactions, filling the room with their chatter.
"Oouuu!"
"Is Mama going to do another Isekai?"
"I hope the character suffers even more in the Library! Teehee!"
God grunted, "Silence, Daughters! My character and I will speak now."
Her words commanded absolute obeisance; the fairies instantly shut their mouths and became motionless, looking like nothing but decorative lights.
"I will allow you to attain new life, with the idenity that you assigned to yourself as an independent creation. Whatever that identity is, is up to you to figure out."
Gilgamesh was at a loss, but he noticed the little feather and melancholy overcame him.
"What if I don't want-"
God ignored him.
"Since the Mother of Scriptures is granting you passage, you can wish for one thing. Anything at all."
"Any one thing."
She spoke those words, knowing she was taunting and tempting Gilgamesh, driving him toward doing exactly what she wanted.
Gilgamesh knew it, too, but could not care. He knew what he wanted, so he made his wish...
"Then... can you please restore Ateah to life?"
"Oh?" God acted surprised. "I'll have you know, once you make this wish, you will no longer be able to ask for anything ever again."
"Are you sure this is what you want?"
Gilgamesh could just barely see a villainous smirk on God's face.
What kind of God was this? This looked more like the Devil!
Was this truly the being that stood above All!? How could she be so evil!?
Knowing that he was signing away his once chance, Gilgamesh swallowed next to nothing in his dry mouth and nodded.
"I am sure. I want this more than anything."
"Prove it." The Mother of Scriptures leanded back, sounding pleased with herself.
Gilgamesh instantly grabbed Excalibur and used it to hack away at his arm, then he tossed it toward God.
She did nothing, but it stopped bleeding and flew over to her side.
"If that is not proof enough, I will remove the other one." Gilgamesh said, firm and resolute.
"Keheh! How would you even do that with one arm?" She laughed, but eventually sighed.
"Well, if you're sure."
Her fingers snapped, and the little feather at Gilgamesh's side finally moved. It floated over to God, near where his arm was.
"In reality, a part of you is necessary to restore her. She no longer exists- and you destroyed the scripture I put you in- so the only way to get back the Ateah you knew is to use matter from the same scripture."
God waved her hand. The feather and arm were completely transfigured, becoming a blob of cosmic light.
"Heh heh..." A fairy could not help but let out a laugh.
Hearing this, Gilgamesh's hopeful expression sank.
A bad feeling ascended from the pit of his stomach.
"Shh," God shushed, then gave her own chuckle as she shook her head. The blob of cosmic light constantly surged, like a bubblimg liquid.
"I, the Mother of Scriptures, do restore you to life. Be reborn, Ateah Gilgamesh..."
"...as my newest Fairy!"
"!!!" Gilgamesh, with a single arm, raised Excalibur.
"WHAT ARE YOU DOING!?"
God and her fairies broke out into raucous laughter. Following a single pointed finger from a random fairy, Gilgamesh's apertures exploded and blood gushed out of every pore.
He fell to his knees again, and lost his grip on the sword. Bloodshot eyes stared at the formation of God's newest fairy.
It was shaped just like Ateah, and suddenly started giggling in her voice.
"Heh heh! This is what you wanted, isn't it Big Brother? I'm alive again, and I get to be with Mama."
"She won't fail me like you did."
Ateah Gilgamesh, the fairy, floated up to her sisters and joined the line on the wall.
The Mother of Scriptures flashed a smile that was impossible not to notice, even if all Gilgamesh could see was her blank form.
Fighting pain and excruciating debilitation, Gilgamesh managed to grab Excalibur and bring it to his neck.
In his last moments, he glanced at the fairy that assumed the form of his sister.
No. That isn't her. That's just another way for God to torment me.
My sister is dead.
I too... should just... die...
He dragged the broken blade across his neck, forgetting he was in God's presence.
"HAHAHA!!!"
"You want to die? Good! Then allow me to grant you this final favor before I send you off!"
"As you enter the Beginningless Library, no matter what form you take or what life you live, one truth shall remain for all eternity."
"You... will never die!"
Those were the last words Gilgamesh heard before his vision went black.
𝘌𝘯𝘥 𝘰𝘧 𝘝𝘰𝘭𝘶𝘮𝘦 3