[closed] this is the only path.

[babbylon]

CHARACTERS: Gilgamesh and Archer
DATE: Several days following their last conversation.
WARNINGS: ...this is gonna get real gnarly folks. Gore, violence, and character death ahead.
SUMMARY: Gilgamesh finally seeks out the truth, and finds out what happens to him in his future.

[Gilgamesh gets up one morning, and for no particular reason decides today is the day.

He wears his street clothes, which Archer will recognize him best in. He has a modest breakfast. He says goodbye to Shishi, and leaves him at the door. He summons Archer with those same words, today is the day, and waits for him by the shore, pendant in hand.

When the man arrives, he gives a short nod. There's nothing left to say, besides...]

Are you prepared?

[And Gilgamesh stands tall before him. Tall and proud and entirely unsuspecting of the humiliation that awaits.]

Comments

[anti_altruisms]

[ He expects the outburst. The outrage, the pain, the fear, the sense of betrayal (even if it really wasn't that at all) -- this is a man who went on a quest to live forever and, in the end, was denied. It's why he steeled himself for this moment, which he warned Gilgamesh not to make a vow he wouldn't be able to keep.

Archer doesn't waver, though. In some ways, he's used to this. He's been hated and despised before, and if he has to endure it from Gilgamesh as well, so be it. He's a monstrous sort of thing, after all, and even if he's gotten a little 'softer' since joining ALASTAIR, that hasn't changed.

Gilgamesh screams at him, beats and lashes out at him blindly...and he takes it. He winces slightly when the man actually lands a blow that hurts, but he doesn't move or offer any resistance. He just accepts it and allows the man his moment of hurt and fury.

He doesn't offer an answer. ]

[babbylon]

No!

[Another punch.]

No!

[Another slap.]

NONONONONONONO—

[But soon, none of it connects. Within moments, Gilgamesh tires, panting and heaving and looking as though he might shatter on the spot. He slumps against Archer, weak and weary and drained down to his bones. How he must've felt, during that false death. And like Archer, he cannot cry. All those tears were shed long ago, leaving only misery in their wake. He slips, yet in tragic irony holds onto Archer still, as if he could bring him back. As if he could convince him, mine was the right way, the only way and take that horrible why straight out of the equation.

But he can't. That's when it hits him. That's when he realizes it.

He just can't.]

I... cannot do this anymore, I...

[Gilgamesh has reached his limit. He slides away, onto the sand, overwhelmed into unconsciousness.]

[anti_altruisms]

[ He bears it silently.

Standing still and tall as Gilgamesh vents a torrent of violent emotion, in a way, he wishes he could feel something. He cannot feel sympathy or anguish over this for the simple fact that he did what needed to be done. He knows that, what happened cannot be changed, and he wouldn't, if given the choice.

The assault ends, finally, and still, Archer can show nothing of care or compassion as the man slumps against him and clings, as if pleading for all of this to be a nightmare, a lie. No answer is forthcoming, and when Gilgamesh finally collapses in a heap on the ground, even now, Archer appears unmoved.

He still feels nothing, save for a cold emptiness that settles in his chest.

He stares at Gilgamesh's prone form for a long moment, and his stomach turns briefly as the bestial instinct instilled in him reminds him how easy it would be to end it right here.

Again, he ignores it. He kneels down and picks up his fellow Servant with a surprising amount of care. Avoiding any onlookers, Archer walks him quietly back to his room and deposits him gently on his bed.

He doesn't linger after that, and when he closes the door behind him, the same, awful nothingness curls even tighter inside him.

He goes back to his room, and when he does, he picks up the egg, wrapped so dutifully and diligently, and leaves it on Rin's bed.

He destroys everything he touches, and right now, it's best if he's alone. ]