A/N: Once again, I apologize for the extreme information download in the last chapter. I prefer doing these chapters late at night when no one else is on and my brain is running full blast, so that whatever comes out is coming out of the character and not me. I sort of let the reigns slip on the characters so they can get the chance to come out more than I do, but then I think that happens normally anyway. ; Anyway, I hope ya�ll aren�t getting so confused you hate this story. I really am trying to keep things not so confusing for everyone. Of course, I also have an odd sense of what is confusing, since I tend to figure things out a little quicker than those around me, but I�m not really all that normal anyway.

Blah, anyway, so here�s the next chapter. Let�s see how many other universes I can butcher, eh? laughs sorry.

Chapter Eight

Golden doors burst open and King Gilgamesh flounced in as servants and slaves alike ran about trying to serve their ruler. Gilgamesh waved them off as he pulled off garments and tossed them carelessly around the main hall and went straight to his throne. He sat upon it and glared out the open area in anger. The slaves and servants scurried to get out of his presence, trying not to be the unfortunate fool who dallied too long and earned the attention of the irate god king.

Gilgamesh�s war counselor came over to his king, curious. �You sent word ahead that you wanted to speak with me, my king?�

�I have need to eradicate a nuisance from this miserable rock,� he said as he ruffled his blonde hair into his eyes before returning to sulking in his throne.

�May I ask why, lord?� The war counselor was an old man, around when Gilgamesh�s predecessor was ruling the land. The old man remembered what it had been like when the tribes had been lost in the desert sands trying to reform their lives. The king had appeared before them, wearing his signature golden armor and announced he was the rightful ruler of the land as their god king. He also remembered the god king standing in old palace in front of the old ruler wearing his gold armor and laughing at the face of the man before opening up strange gates behind him with a simple snap of his fingers, red light pouring out as the invisible gates opened and then suddenly everything went bright gold as weapons of every kind appeared in the air like they were floating through water. He remembered the old ruler shivering and shaking, backing into a corner like a coward, though the old general could hardly blame him, and then being pummeled by a rain of weapons. That was the last he had seen of his old ruler.

�A woman of an unusual sort refused my hand in marriage, so, I want to eradicate her entire people from the planet, right in front of her eyes as I steal her back to here and then chain her up in the harem for my use.� Gilgamesh didn�t even look at the old general; he simply stared ahead as he sulked.

�A woman, sire? Why should such a grand king have to resort to such tactics when there are plenty of capable breeding women to give my lord an heir,� said the war counselor, bowing down to the golden haired man in front of him. He moved backward slightly when the man�s red devil eyes snapped toward him.

�I have been gravely insulted and I wish to punish the bitch who has scorned me,� said Gilgamesh.

�But why concern yourself with a foreigner when there are just as good breeding women around in the desert tribes? There are many women in our tribes people, many gorgeous, beyond beautiful women who come from grand stock and will bear sire very strong children. Most won�t even ask what they might get from it, as they will be honored you even look upon them with lust.� Again, the war counselor bowed down to his king so that he wouldn�t anger the man even further. Those eyes alone made him believe the man was not natural.

The old general remembered the old ways, remembered the old traditions of his people, of their belief in one god, Allah, and his grand prophet Muhammad. That a man came in and completely turned everyone showed how little everyone truly believed in Allah. Now, they worshipped him as a god, for he was, indeed, some sort of creature in part. Rashid ibn Abd Quasai was no fool and knew what a mockery this made of his faith, but he kept silent in order to learn more and to find ways to be closer to the golden god king, as well as find some sort of weakness in him so he might better kill him.

�Stop talking down to me as though you were speaking to a young child, mongrel,� growled Gilgamesh. He kicked the old man in the knee and watched him drop down. �I said I want to eradicate those people from the planet and I plan to do so. You will gather my army and come to the northern lands of Briton, Ireland, Wales and Scotland and you will help me or I will take great pleasure in ripping you apart in front of her wives and children before slaughtering them as well. Nothing will be left of your family.�

The cold look of anger on Gilgamesh�s face forced Rashid to take a humble stance and try to work with the angry god king. Oh if only he were younger! �My lord, I am afraid that I can not perform my duties as I used to, what with my advanced age. Please do not include me in this affair.�

Gilgamesh picked the man up by his hair and pulled him up to his height, his grip like that of a vice. �You will participate, dear counselor, oh yes, you will. I will not leave such a sniveling coward behind to raise plots against my kinghood.� At the look of surprise on Rashid�s face, Gilgamesh smiled faintly and then tossed the man as though he were a ragdoll. �Don�t think I haven�t noticed you skulking about, Rashid. I did not rule for thousands upon thousands of years over you spineless worms and learned NOTHING!�

Rashid scrambled to his knees and watched in horror as Gilgamesh stood straight, crossing his arms and watching him imperiously. The look the blonde man had was the same one that he had when he forced his way in and killed the former ruler with his devil doors!

�Gate of Babylon,� said the golden king, his voice low and rumbling thunderous through the great hall. The sound of gigantic doors being unlocked and opening echoed through the hall as servants and slaves hid away from the terrible sight. When the red light passed, Rashid saw the gold of the king�s gate treasury, weapons upon weapons floating through the mysterious water of the gate. Silently, Rashid prayed to Allah to save him from this early death as Gilgamesh watched him smirking at the terror he instilled in his victim.

�I am the king of Babylon, Rashid. Remember that. Remember the feeling of an old memory, a ghost, appearing on your doorstep when I came back? Remember the marrow of your very bones feeling as though you had seen me before? That is because I ruled over you filthy people on this blasted rock for thousands upon thousands of years before any of your ancestors even knew what their cocks were used for! I ruled so long ago that the people I ruled were the one people, the entire world was my people and I ruled over them all and took all their hatred, their darkness and their filth onto my shoulders as a king should and bore all the weight for you stupid people!�

Rashid felt something white hot sear through his hand. He looked over and saw a sword sticking out of it, still quivering. Gilgamesh closed the gates and sat down, watching Rashid. �Do not underestimate my power, Rashid. Your worthless Allah won�t save you or your family or your people should I choose to destroy every single person here.� The sword disappeared and Rashid held his hand, pain now reaching his senses. He held it gingerly and covered it in his clothes to stem the bleeding.

�My lord, I beseech you, please! Give me some of your youth potion so I might fight better with my lord!� Rashid threw himself onto the floor at Gilgamesh�s feet, hoping he could at least get out of being killed in battle should he go on some silly quest to kill every infidel in the northern islands. His ancestors had tried to do the same, though back then it had been different. The infidels back then mostly converted to the true faith instead of dying for their false one. These people were just to be slaughtered. For what? For defying a mad god king?

�You will have one drop, Rashid. One. It will heal that stupid hand of yours and age you back five years so you might fair better on the battle field. Five years is plenty for a filthy race such as yours.� Rashid looked up in surprise as Gilgamesh held up a hand and a crystal phial appeared in it. The jeweled stopper was pulled out and Gilgamesh let a drop of the golden liquid fall into Rashid�s waiting mouth. Instantly, Rashid felt his hand seal up and his body move better. Not much better, but at least he wasn�t still on his knees now before the false god king.

Gilgamesh replaced the stopper and let it disappear behind him. Rashid frowned and wondered if the man had complete and total access to some hidden gate that he didn�t so much as open as he did just put his hand in and feel about for things. Rashid bowed down to Gilgamesh�s feet and stood again. �I will gather the men into an army, train the younger ones in fighting Englishmen and remind the older ones what it�s like to kill one.�

Gilgamesh looked to Rashid. �Who said English? I said Britons,� said Gilgamesh.

Rashid silently cursed himself for his lack of care. The golden king leaned forward and watched Rashid as he sweated under his piercing gaze. �How much do you really remember, dear peasant? How much more do you know than the rest of your stupid race?�

�I� was once a historian of sorts for my previous lord. I was the �rememberer� for the three tribes housed in these walls. My father before me was also a �rememberer� for the three tribes and so on and so forth. You chose me as war counselor because I knew more about tactics than the real war counselor previous to me, though I continue to serve as my peoples� rememberer.� Rashid bowed his head to the king once more to emphasize his loyalty toward Gilgamesh.

�What sort of things do you remember, rememberer?� said Gilgamesh, now interested.

Rashid had not been asked such a thing since he last served his previous ruler and had to think about it for a moment to recall something that might interest the highly distractible lord. �Briton was once known as England; Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland and England all made up the United Kingdom at one point. Before all this mess was prosperity beyond all in a great deal of the world, but our people were being called to jihad. We were to destroy the infidels who threatened us in America and in the United Kingdom and everywhere there were infidels to destroy or convert. After our defeat against the infidels, we were forced into another battle to survive the desert sands once more as our people did long ago.�

Gilgamesh watched Rashid carefully and nodded as he listened. �Continue, please.�

Rashid licked his lips and nodded. �Our people were forced to the desert sands because devil worshippers of a magic race were discovered. There were even some among us in our own tribes! It was intolerable that such people should exist among even those of us who were faithful to Allah! When they were discovered, the rulers of our countries sent bombs to rain on us to kill the devil worshippers who hid among us like rats. The other countries did the same, except America. In America, they seemed to talk the infidels there into being peacable with them, despite massive civil unrest among the peoples. However, in the United Kingdom, there they were destroyed entirely. They were hit right at the source with a great bomb that seared the sky and the land and tainted the water. Cities were destroyed entirely, made uninhabitable for anyone, much less the infidels and the devil worshippers. Then, we were forced to the sands and back to the lives we once led so very long ago when Muhammad was alive.�

Gilgamesh smirked as he watched Rashid through his lashes. He stood up and walked toward the older man and leaned down toward him. �I think you will prove very useful to me, should you not betray me. Have you trained your sons to be rememberers as well?�

�Yes, I have, my lord. The share the knowledge as well, should I die,� he said.

Gilgamesh smirked and nodded. �Very well, I will spare your family. You, as planned, shall join me on the journey to Briton where we shall dance upon the rotting corpses we leave in our wake.�

Rashid bowed his head toward Gilgamesh. �Yes, my lord.�

�I�m your aunt, actually, by Morgan my half sister.� The young man grinned deviously and laughed. Arturia frowned as she watched him laugh at her. �Do I need to show some sort of proof?�

�You�re just so small! My mother was never so tiny as you!� laughed the young man.

A vein in Arturia�s brow twitched, though she kept her cold mask up well enough. �She doesn�t have my father, I�m afraid, to contribute to her.�

�So Uther Pendragon was short too?� The young man walked forward and leaned over his �aunt� who he had deemed too tiny to be an aunt to him. �I am Gawain. I know why you come to Cannick. You wish to ask me to join you in your army!�

Arturia nodded. �I would be delighted to see one of my own kin fall in step beside me, Gawain,� she said.

Gawain watched his tiny aunt and smiled faintly. �Aye, you do show signs of granny Igrane in you. All right, I will join you, cousin. Do I get the one handed fellow as a pet?�

Bedivere glared slightly at Gawain, uncertain as to whether the rather boisterous young man was joking or not. �I am also to prove myself to our queen that I am a worthy knight.�

Gawain waved a hand about dismissively toward Bedivere and walked toward Arturia. �Oi, mum won�t greet you, by the by, cousin, but I will. I�ve always heard that you were most extraordinary and wanted to meet you.� Arturia gasped as Gawain�s strong arms wrapped around her and lifted her up against him like one would a child.

�That�s high enough, Gawain! Please!� gasped Arturia as she latched onto her nephew tightly, unable to feel the ground beneath her.

Gawain laughed and spun her around. �You�re so light; I could do this all day long and never get tired!�

Merlin wondered whether he should interfere or not. On the one hand, he could justify it as his queen was being manhandled, but how did one explain that you interfered with a royal�s reunion with a lost part of her family because she was being manhandled by her overgrown and overly energetic nephew?

Gawain laughed and put Arturia down onto her feet, steadying her with his hands on her shoulders as he grinned broadly at her. �Stay here for the night and I�ll ride out with you in the morning, Arturia! I was unable to come to the coronation, but I hope you will tell me many things of what you are trying to accomplish and what started this whole battle!�

�What of your family?� Arturia was feeling dizzy from all the spinning, liking the weight of Gawain�s large hands on her shoulders. It was a foreign feeling inside her that appreciated the gentleness with which he seemed to touch her. It was as though she really were family that he simply had not seen since Christmas.

�Mum is off with dad someplace else for a while. It�s only me and my brothers for now. Come! Let us celebrate your coming here with a big dinner!� He pulled Arturia by her hand and led the way to the kitchen where he started directing the cooks. Merlin merely trailed behind them as Bedivere walked behind him looking a little uneasy being in the house.

That night, Arturia rested in a warm, soft bed that smelled of lavender. It had been so long since she had smelled a perfume in a bed and that she felt so comfortable sleeping with little care for what happened around her. Her sword was not far from her, a knife stayed under her pillow and Gawain and his brothers were not far from her door. For some reason, it felt as though she was actually welcome. It made her feel happy inside and for once, she slept with little care.