The night following Gorgon's attack was one of rest. Though Y/n couldn't help but feel melancholic about losing not just Leonidas, but Ushiwakamaru as well.

Currently, the magician was drinking some wine inside the Eanna temple with Shamhat. As it turned out, sacred prostitutes weren't just about the fucking. They actually had a number of roles within Uruk. Gilgamesh had sent one of Shamhat's fellow Harimtu to the home of one of the soldiers to act as a midwife for the soldier's wife who had gone into labour.

Shamhat was mostly quiet, however she decided to address one of her concerns based on a rumour she had heard.

Shamhat: "... You were on the front lines, yes? Tell me... Is it true that Enkidu has forsaken us?"

Y/n sighed gently. He had to think of how best to describe the position Enkidu was in.

Y/n: "... Yes and no. Enkidu himself has not forsaken humanity, instead an entity known as Kingu has decided to pilot Enkidu's body."

Shamhat: "... I knew it. Enkidu would never turn his back on humanity. This puts my mind somewhat at ease."

Y/n gave no immediate response, his mind was fixed solidly on how best to handle Gorgon. She was nothing like the servant he knew from Fuyuki. Something caught Y/n's eye as he thought to himself and he immediately fired one of the chains of heaven at it. Shamhat jumped out of fright until she looked at where the chain had fired.

A Gallu spirit had been lurking just behind her, likely waiting for a chance to strike.

Shamhat was oddly calm about the situation as the spirit faded away. However she looked at Y/n's arm with curiosity.

Y/n: "Before you say anything, my arm is pseudo prosthetic."

Shamhat: "Pseudo... Prosthetic?"

Y/n nodded and rolled his sleeve up, revealing the point where his flesh had been severed and the mud of the gods had merged with him.

Y/n: "My arm was cut off in the fifth holy grail war. Shortly afterwards I was payed a visit by myself from the near future. I gave myself this arm, though it wasn't really an arm at the time, it was just a lump of clay."

Shamhat's eyes widened. She knew exactly what that meant.

Shamhat: "Then... That arm is-"

Y/n: "It was once part of Enkidu."

Shamhat was surprised, but she reached out and gently held Y/n's hand in her own. Closing her eyes for a few moments, she took a deep breath and smiled.

Shamhat: "It's more rugged than his. But... Yes, this is definitely Enkidu's clay."

Y/n remained quiet until the door of the chamber opened and Archer Gilgamesh stepped inside.

Shamhat: "K- King Gilgamesh!"

Gilgamesh: "Y/n, come. I wish to speak with you in confidence."

Y/n nodded before thanking Shamhat and following Gilgamesh as the two walked around the city.

Y/n: "So what is it you want to discuss?"

Gilgamesh: "My caster self grows weak. At his current rate, he will die from exhaustion."

Y/n: "That can happen to him!?"

Gilgamesh: "Not normally, but with the unusually high numbers of Gallu spirits around Uruk as of late, it is likely that they are to blame for this situation. You are going to Kutha tomorrow, yes?"

Y/n: "Yeah, Caster wants us to collect the tablet of destinies or something like that."

Gilgamesh: "Hm. Then you should adhere to his quest. However I shall add a side-objective as you tend to call it."

Y/n: "Ooh, I do like me some side-quests."

Gilgamesh chuckled as he and Y/n walked into the small plaza between the three houses of the Chaldean Embassy.

Gilgamesh: "While you are in Kutha, you will be a short distance from mount Ebih. As an addition to your mission to retrieve the tablet of destinies, I want you to go buy me a goddess. I shall give you a maximum of twenty five percent of my treasures with which to bribe her."

Y/n: "Didn't you mention this was caster's plan a month ago when we were on the hanging gardens?"

Gilgamesh: "Shit, you remembered that. *ahem* I mean, you must be remembering wrong."

Y/n was silent for a second as he leaned his head to the left.

Y/n: "... Yeah, Naunet just told me. This was caster's plan."

Gilgamesh: "FUCKING GODDESSES!!"

Y/n: "Either way, I'll take Herc and Merlin with me tomorrow. The other five can do their usual duties and I'll take the goddess."

Gilgamesh: "I would normally advise against such an action, however Heracles is far more than capable of keeping you safe. Especially as it is Archer Heracles."

Y/n nodded before heading into his temporary home in the Chaldean embassy to inform Femerlin and Heracles of their mission.

The next day, once the dawn broke the sky, Y/n, Heracles and Femerlin readied themselves to head for Kutha.

Arcueid saw the three getting ready to head out when she walked over.

Arcueid: "Morning, Y/n."

Y/n: "Arcueid. You're up early."

Arcueid: "Yeah well Takasugi snores loud enough that I can hear him from mine and Sakura's room."

Y/n: "My condolences."

The two laughed before Heracles lifted his bow from the ground and slung it over his shoulder.

Heracles: "Master, we should get going soon. It'll be dusk by the time we get to Kutha as it is."

Arcueid: "You guys are heading out now?"

Y/n: "Yeah. We'll see about bringing a souvenir back."

Arcueid laughed as Y/n smirked at her. Before the master and his servants could head out, he was intercepted by Tiamat.

Tiamat: "I do hope you weren't planning on leaving without me."

Y/n: "I didn't know you wanted to come."

Tiamat: "Well now you do. I trust this is no issue, Heracles?"

Heracles: "Of course not, Lady Tiamat. Having a goddess of this land is nothing but beneficial to us."

Tiamat smiled at Heracles' reply before Y/n said his goodbyes to Arcueid. Once the group arrived at the gate of Uruk, they found Ibaraki Douji waiting for them.

Y/n: "Did you come to see us off, Ibaraki?"

Ibaraki: "No. I'm coming with you. It's far too boring here, there's next to no sweets readily available for me."

Y/n: "And you're assuming there'll be sweets readily available for you out there?"

Ibaraki: "You're a magician that can create things out of nothing, right? There's your answer."

Tiamat and Femerlin laughed at Ibaraki's logic, however Heracles sighed.

Heracles: "Ibaraki, you are required here as one of Gilgameshes generals."

Ibaraki: "Uh-huh, and? I've decided I'm coming with you, so that's that."

Y/n chuckled at Ibaraki's stubbornness before the male Merlin walked over and the group headed out to Kutha.

It took almost a whole day to reach the small town at the base of Mount Ebih. Y/n could sense a source of divinity approaching them with another one not far away.

Y/n: "Do we want to wait until morning, or start searching for the tablet now?"

Heracles: "I suggest we do both. We search for a while today and if we find nothing then we rest for the night and start the search anew in the morning."

Y/n nodded and he and the servants began searching. The town was completely abandoned and eerily quiet. Clay pottery lay shattered and left behind to gather dust while the mudbrick buildings slowly deteriorated from the ravages of time.

Y/n: "Talk about a ghost town..."

Tiamat walked around with a solemn look, she could sense the restless souls of humans that had died here. A mix of anger and despair hung in the air around the town like a veil.

Tiamat: "The border between the living realm and Kur must be thin here."

As Y/n searched through one of the houses, he sensed something behind him. Turning around, he drew Bheathach Siorruidh and walked slowly out of the house. Keeping his senses attuned to his surroundings he made his way to the central plaza of the town.

When he was sure that there was nobody around, he lowered his sword and went to turn around, only to suddenly find himself looking out over a dark precipice.

Y/n: "What the fuck!?"

There air was bitingly cold, looking over the edge of the precipice, Y/n saw thousands of cages with blue flames flickering within them. He could sense a divinity further down towards the bottom of the abyss below him.

Y/n: "This... Hold on, those cages look like... I know where I am! I'm in Kur!"

Y/n looked around and recognised the cages as the ones Ereshkigal used to carry around. He then did the only thing that seemed to come to mind.

Y/n: "OI! ERESHKIGAL! I KNOW YOU CAN HEAR ME DOWN THERE! COME SAY HI!"

Y/n sensed the divinity below him reacting to his voice, however he got a cold feeling from behind him. Reacting to the sense of something behind him, he spun around with his sword drawn. As he did so, he found a group of what looked like zombies shambling towards him.

Y/n: "Go back to your rest! If you don't then feel free to fuck around and find out!"

Y/n smirked as he held his blade in a striking stance.

The zombies stopped in their tracks as another person appeared behind Y/n.

???: "Enough. Return to thy slumber, O spirits of the dead."

Y/n turned and found a hooded man standing there with a familiar rusted sword.

???: "Thou hath fallen into the underworld and disturbed the resting place of the dead."

Y/n: "Not by choice. I recognise that voice from somewhere though. Have we met somewhere before?"

The man gave Y/n a critical look before Y/n felt himself ascending.

Y/n: "Eresh must be sending me back."

???: "When you return to the realm of the living, tell the mage of flowers that all is well in the underworld."

Y/n: "And who passed along the message, eh?"

The man smirked under his hood before speaking again.

???: "My name is Ziusudra. Remember it well, magician."

Y/n nodded before feeling himself being shook awake.

When he opened his eyes, he found himself on the ground in the central plaza with his head in Tiamat's lap.

Tiamat: "Oh good, you're awake. I was thinking I'd have to pay Ereshkigal a little visit."

Y/n: "No need, though I did pay Kur a little visit."

Merlin: "Hm, going to Kur despite being alive normally shouldn't be possible. But perhaps the veil between this world and Kur is thinner here."

Y/n: "More than likely. By the way, a guy called Ziusudra said he had a message for you."

Merlin raised an eyebrow at the name drop.

Merlin: "Ziusudra? What did he say?"

Y/n: "He said all is well in the underworld."

Merlin: "Hm... Give me some time to ponder that. For now, it seems we have what we came for."

Y/n tilted his head before he looked at something he was clutching in his arms. It was a clay tablet with cuneiform writing etched into it.

Y/n: "Hey, would ya look at that? I got it."

Heracles: "Then our next stop is mount Ebih."

Y/n: "Yup, we've got a goddess to bribe."

Ibaraki: "Gah! We've done enough walking for one day! I vote we stay here and sleep for the next three days!"

Heracles: "Not an option."

Ibaraki: "WHY NOT!?!?"

Heracles: "Because we've got company."

Y/n frowned as Heracles spoke before he sensed a rapidly approaching divinity. When he looked up, he saw Ishtar hovering over the town.

Ishtar: "Huh, so that presence I sensed was you, mother."

Tiamat: "Ishtar. You know what happens if you raise arms against me."

Ishtar: "Tch! Unfortunately, I don't take kindly to potential thieves, so I'll have to ask you to not exist in front of me!"

Ishtar pointed a single finger at the group. As a golden glow began to gather at the tip of her finger Y/n stood up and decided to pull a "No U" as he invoked denial of nothingness.

Ishtar's eyes widened when she saw Maana manifesting next to Y/n.

Y/n: "What's it gonna be, Ishtar? You gonna take the shot and get domed in the process? Or are you gonna be reasonable for once?"

Ishtar flinched as she knew she had been cornered in a single move.

Ishtar: "... *sigh* Fine. I'll hear you out."

Ishtar lowered her hand and hovered down to the group as Y/n dismissed Maana.

Ishtar: "Right, explain to me why you're here. If I'm not satisfied with your answer, I'm killing you all here and now."

Y/n: "You can try."

Tiamat: "You would only invoke my ire by even attempting such a thing, Ishtar."

Ishtar flinched again before Y/n spoke his intentions plainly.

Y/n: "Putting it as simply as possible, we need you on our side, Ishtar. Even if Caster won't admit it. As such, we can offer you twenty percent of the jewels in Gilgameshes treasury."

Ishtar: "GH! T- Twenty percent!?"

Y/n: "I can go to twenty five."

Ishtar: "A- ARE YOU KIDDING ME!? This is the treasury of Babylon we're talking about, right?"

Y/n: "Yup."

Ishtar: "The one that's said to hold all of the wealth of humanity past, present, and future?"

Heracles: "The same."

Ishtar was about to voice her disbelief when Y/n suddenly sensed the second divinity from before getting closer.

Y/n: "Hold on for a moment, we've got incoming."

Heracles: "Allow me."

Heracles aimed his bow at the sky over a house for a moment before the sound of thundering hooves began to get louder in the distance.

Heracles loosed a single arrow as a horse jumped over the house he was aiming at. The arrow hit it's mark on the horse's body and knocked it out of the air as it's rider was knocked to the ground. The rider was a fairly young woman who gazed at Heracles with calm, familiar eyes.

Heracles: "... I know you."

???: "Hmph, so you're not so prideful as to forget me."

Y/n: "Someone you know personally, Heracles?"

Heracles: "Indeed. The subject of the ninth of my twelve labours. Hippolyta, former queen of the Amazons."

Y/n: "Oh yeah, didn't you yoink her war belt?"

Heracles: "That's a very simple way of explaining it, but yes."

Hippolyta: "Are you not going to mention that you and your men ended up killing many of my people, myself included?"

Heracles: "You and I both know that it was due to that bitch, Hera, manipulating things from behind the scenes."

Hippolyta kept a stone-cold gaze on Heracles who did the same until Aioniótis' blade was stabbed into the ground between the two.

Y/n: "Save your rivalry for another time. Heracles, we need to deal with Ishtar then head back to Uruk in a timely fashion."

Heracles: "O- Of course, master."

Hippolyta: "Heh, look at you Heracles. Following the orders of one that is lesser than yourself once more-"

Hippolyta was quickly interrupted by Tiamat swiftly grabbing her by the throat and slamming her through the sandstone wall of one of the nearby houses.

Hippolyta grit her teeth as she glared at the goddess, however despite the fact that she was the daughter of Ares, her bravery was sapped from her when she saw the sweet, motherly smile on Tiamat's face. Such a loving smile despite the vice grip around the amazon's neck put Hippolyta in a state of fear that she had never felt before.

Y/n intervened and placed a hand on Tiamat's shoulder.

Y/n: "Let her down, Tiamat."

Tiamat: "My apologies, Y/n. However I will not allow such a woman to insult the single most powerful master in human history without due punishment."

Y/n: "Tiamat. I told you to stop."

Tiamat felt her body freeze up as her grip loosened against her will and she dropped Hippolyta, who coughed and spluttered as Heracles helped her move away from the goddess.

Y/n kept a stoic look on her face as Tiamat was freed from the effects of Abzu's authority.

She seemed to be slightly irritated by Y/n's decision. However she soon shook her head as her gentle demeanour returned.

Tiamat: "We can discuss this later, Y/n. For now, as you've said, we must deal with Ishtar."

Y/n nodded to the primordial goddess before turning back to Ishtar. The goddess seemed to be waiting impatiently for the magician to continue.

Ishtar: "So, what were you saying earlier?"

Y/n: "Apologies, Ishtar. But yeah, we're willing to offer a portion of the jewels in Gilgameshes treasury. If that isn't enough, I'd be willing to negotiate another kind of compensation."

Ishtar raised an eyebrow, she remembered what Y/n had done the previous month and a tinge of red began to appear on her face.

Ishtar: "I will accept your offer on one condition."

Y/n: "Name it."

Ishtar: "Not here, but you will help me retrieve something."

Y/n raised an eyebrow, but chose to address it later. For now, he held his hand out to Ishtar.

Y/n: "If all you need is help retrieving something, then I will accept your condition."

With that said, Ishtar smirked before summoning Maana and floating over with her foot outstretched.

Ishtar: "If I am to be on your side, then a contract must be made, yes? Go ahead, I will allow you to kiss my foot to seal the contract."

Ishtar was swiftly smacked off of Maana by a flying Chancla courtesy of Tiamat.

Tiamat: "You would do well to remember that he has a higher divinity than you, Ishtar."

Ishtar rubbed her head when Y/n helped her to her feet. The contract was then sealed with a simple handshake.

The group then set up camp further away from the village. Hippolyta and Heracles were sparring together while Y/n watched. Hippolyta had refused to become Y/n's servant on the basis that he was Heracles' master. She had said that she would happily accept a contract from one of the others however.

While he watched the two sparring, Ishtar walked over and took a seat next to him.

Ishtar: "Those two are going at it pretty hard, huh?"

Y/n: "I mean, the last time they met Hera tricked them into fighting each other."

Ishtar: "And now that they have no misunderstandings they're free to act as they see fit."

Y/n: "Yup. So if Herc and Hippolyta start fucking then don't say I didn't fucking call that shit."

Ishtar looked back at one of the tents and saw Tiamat asleep.

Ishtar: "It's kinda crazy thinking that the primordial mother just follows you around."

Y/n: "I mean, not really. As Abzu's successor I naturally have a connection to her."

Ishtar hummed to herself before the two continued to talk well into the young hours of the morning. When the sun crested the horizon ahead of them, the group headed out to make their way to Uruk.

Ibaraki was like an energetic child as she ran ahead of the group, constantly demanding that they hurry up. Heracles and Hippolyta walked in relative silence side by side while the two Merlins teased them about their past. Specifically when Hippolyta and Heracles slept together before Hera fucked them both over.

The sun was beginning to sink when they reached the gates of Uruk. Y/n frowned however when he saw that the gate was cracked. While the group walked through the streets, Ishtar found herself surrounded by people begging her to deliver them from the evil that plagued them.

Ishtar: "What the hell even happened here?"

One of the guards explained that a blonde woman had blasted the gate off of it's hinges and had walked right through the streets of Uruk, killing exactly one hundred people as she went.

Mash had apparently tried to intercept her, but the woman was far stronger than any man in the entire city.

Heracles and Hippolyta came to the conclusion that it must have been an enemy goddess.

When the group arrived at the Ziggurat, Hippolyta froze as she saw Demeter running over to them.

Demeter: "Oh, good. You're all here. Ibaraki, you're needed in the barracks."

Ibaraki: "UGH! Why!?"

Demeter: "Because Uruk has no generals except for you. Now stop being a spoiled little brat and get moving please."

Ibaraki shuddered at the sweet malice in Demeter's tone. Hippolyta immediately shot to her knees before the goddess.

Hippolyta: "Lady Demeter. It is an honour to be in your presence."

Demeter: "Oh, you're... Yes. You're the queen of the Amazons Hippolyta. I must apologise profusely for how Hera acted when Heracles came for the belt."

Hippolyta: "There is no need for apology, my lady."

Y/n left the two to talk things out while he made his way to the throne room. When he entered, he saw Caster Gilgamesh looking more tired than usual.

Y/n: "King Gilgamesh! I brought the tablet!"

Caster looked up as a smirk made its way onto his face.

CasGil: "Ah, good. I see you also brought a second prize with you. Archer told me of the plan, I am glad you managed to complete your tasks and get here in a timely fashion."

Ishtar: "Can it, goldilocks! What the hell happened out there!?"

CasGil: "Quetzalcoatl made her presence known to us. Semiramis managed to hold her back with fire from the hanging gardens, however the goddess left after killing a hundred men."

Y/n: "So after we've rested, we're going after her?"

CasGil: "Precisely. Doctor Roman has told me that there is likely no way for us to reason with her."

Ishtar: "You'd be right there. From what I know, melee combat's her specialty."

Y/n: "Based on what I know of her legend and mythology, the entire Aztec pantheon is fuckin' metal."

Ishtar: "You're not wrong there. Quetzalcoatl would regularly receive blood sacrifices if I'm remembering right."

CasGil: "And how the hell would you know!?"

Ishtar: "I'm allowed to be well versed in other mythologies, Goldilocks."

Caster continued to argue with Ishtar for a while longer before Siduri led Y/n out of the throne room.

Siduri: "I must admit, being in the presence of so many gods, not just from this land... It's rather overwhelming."

Y/n: "I can imagine. I probably would've been the same if it weren't for the body Ishtar inhabits."

Siduri: "You know her vessel?"

Y/n: "Yup, she's Sakura's sister. Rin Tohsaka."

Siduri: "Ah. It must be even stranger for Sakura then, having a goddess inhabiting her sister's body."

Y/n: "She's seen gods inhabiting other versions of her own body. Trust me, she's used to it by now."

Siduri was intrigued, so she asked Y/n what things were like at Chaldea. Y/n obliged and regaled her with stories of many happenings at Chaldea. Mostly the funny shit.

The first story he told was of the time that he walked into Artoria's room expecting to be met with just Lartoria, only to find her, Lalter, Rider Alter, Arthur and Saber Artoria all playing Pokémon.

The second was of the many many many many many many M A N Y times that the men of Chaldea would just talk shit during steam baths. Most of the time they would compare muscles or more recently, they would laugh at Gudao complaining about his ass being sore after taking a nailing from Astolfo and that one time that d'Eon decided they were going to be a guy for a day and joined in with Astolfo.

A strange conversation followed where they tried to decipher what gender d'Eon was, only to find out that it was entirely up to how chaotic d'Eon was feeling at the time. Alternatively it was also down to how their master perceived them. Y/n knew d'Eon's story and knew that he was born a man but died a woman, however Y/n perceived him as an especially effeminate male purely to spite one of the rather annoying technicians that constantly claimed d'Eon to be non-binary.

So, d'Eon was an honorary man of Chaldea purely out of spite for another.

Siduri also inquired into the many "Entertainments" there were at Chaldea, to which Y/n merely summed up that for the majority of the female servants, it was either a mutual respect or an admiration. However in a few cases such as Chiyo, Ibuki, Kiara and Kama consent was akin to the illusion of choice.

The two continued to talk well into the night as they stopped at Y/n's home in the Chaldean embassy.

Y/n told Siduri of the funnier parts of Chaldean life and Siduri in turn told him of the many things that happened in Uruk. Such as a ceremony wherein a newlywed man would surrender his wife to Gilgamesh for a night. The husband would consider it an honour to have his wife lay with the king of Uruk, as would the wife.

Y/n commented that if Gil was to NTR him in such a manner, he'd get brutally bitch slapped and reminded of who was the successor of a primordial deity. Siduri laughed at the comment before Y/n told her about a time where Chaldea's servants started forming bands. Geronimo and Billy the kid formed a band with Bunyan. Billy was on keyboard, Geronimo was on saxophone and Bunyan was on drums. The three ended up being fairly popular, though the unlikely group was nowhere near as popular as the heavy metal band that was formed of Karna, Arjuna, Rama and Ashwatthama.

While the two talked, Tiamat listened in from just outside the house with a smile. She enjoyed hearing of the more mundane happenings in Chaldea, it catered to her nature as a mother to hear of the things her children did to keep themselves entertained.

When the sun rose over the horizon in the morning, Sakura walked over to Y/n's house and found him fast asleep on a mat that Tiamat had put down, laying on top of him was Siduri and draped over them was a blanket made of fine silk that had been gifted to the goddess by one of the harimtu at the Eanna temple.

Sakura gently woke the two up before explaining to Y/n that they were heading to the jungle to confront Quetzalcoatl.

Y/n understood and carried Siduri up to his bedroom where he laid her in the bed before pulling his pauldron on and walking out to meet the others. Ishtar was waiting for him with Zerkerlot and FemGil.

Kid Gil was also there since he wanted in on the action and he took the opportunity while Ninsun was asleep to escape so he could get his hands dirty.

The time had come. Now the six masters and their servants went to face Quetzalcoatl directly.

End of Chapter.

Next Time: She Who Commands The Sun.