Daughter of the Gods (Gilgamesh x Reader)

29: A Daughter's Mourning

The days passed by in the blink of an eye as you knew it. Only three days left until the tenth dawn of your arrival and you still have mixed feelings for the upcoming event. The joy you feel in the presence of the people was enough to distract you from it.

During the past days, the people had started warming up to you. They'd greet you when they see you and the old tension in the atmosphere that stands in between you and them slowly dissipates. Over the course of the short time, you were able to talk to the locals and were able to learn a lot more things than Enkidu and Siduri will ever tell you—Gilgamesh's tyranny included.

The other day when you were bonding with the people, you spotted an empty house not far from the ziggurat. Enkidu had told you that it was long abandoned ever since the family living there has moved to the outer cities. You wondered if they would return but it turns out they already have a stable source of income near the south observatory.

You were told there were no signs of them coming back. That said, you told Enkidu you'd like to get this house. Confused, he asked why.

"It makes a good embassy of some sort. Maybe a little place I can be at when the ziggurat's too suffocating. Also, it makes me closer to the people! Maybe I can have this as an office of some sort where I can address their problems," you answered. "Obviously, Gilgamesh wouldn't be up for such things. So who would be kind enough to reach the locals?"

The neighboring people were delighted by the idea. They even offered to fix the house up for you. They wouldn't want their queen staying in an old shabby space, do they?

Enkidu eventually told Gilgamesh of such plans. One afternoon during your favorite time of the day, the two men talked. While Enkidu was standing behind you as you sat by the platform above the central staircase, he excused himself for a while to tend to something else.

At that time, the king sat on his throne as he watched the same view you've always loved. Gil often sat around on his throne this time of the day to watch the sunset, too. The only thing different this time was that he could see your silhouette sitting by the stairs.

Enkidu approached him to report the updates about you. "In such a short span of time, she was able to capture the hearts of the people," Gilgamesh concluded. "How truly interesting."

Enkidu emphasized the fact that you never failed to make people smile when you're around. Your words echoed through their heads, "A nation without smiles is a nation dead," and you continue to prove your stand correct.

Enkidu could see with his very own eyes the small changes that begin to take place. The people were no longer wary nor anxious about his presence because of you. The people were no longer too afraid of coming to the ziggurat for daily reports. Uruk is a populous city full of living beings but it is only now that you're here that it starts springing to life once again.

When Enkidu told Gil about the house you wanted to use as shelter outside the ziggurat, the king became unamused. He says that it's completely ridiculous for you to blend in with the mongrels. In his opinion, if you continue to insist on that plan of yours, then it only proves you no different from them.

Little did he know, you heard his statement. "Tell me, does the sun seek to hide from the public eye? Does the moon hide from the people's gaze?" You asked as you stood up, your figure blocking Gil's view of the sunset.

Gil's eyebrows raised from your statement. "That is why we should permit them audience," you said as you slowly walked back into the roofs of the ziggurat. "Just as the sun's light bathes every corner of the world, so too should our glory shine upon every person who looks up to us."

By this moment, you were already inside the temple, no longer silhouetted by the light behind you, allowing the men to see your face.

"Still, I suppose that if the sun looked the same as anyone else, it may need to put on a bit of a show to emphasize its power and status," you added.

Silence followed afterward. None of them decided to butt in. "Is that why you exercise tyranny?" You asked. Those words were supposed to stay in your head yet you let them slip off your mouth.

You wanted to say more but this time, you just bit your tongue. Behind one pillar, King Lugalbanda stood to listen to the one-sided conversation. None of you noticed his presence.

As you could no longer take the deafening silence of an unanswered question, you excused yourself. Upon your way, Enkidu took a step to assist you yet you waved your hand dismissingly to let him know you're fine on your own.

The moment your presence was no longer around, King Lugalbanda made his known. He made his way to stood on the same spot you just left behind. "Son, if you could describe (y/n) in one word, what will it be?" the former king asked.

Gil wasted no time to think about his answer, "Mongrel." His father sighed at his answer.

"Enkidu?" he turned to ask his son's friend. "Kind," Enkidu answered. At Enkidu's response, King Lugalbanda's lips curved up into a small smile.

"Gilgamesh, does she look like she enjoys fighting?" he said. "She has such kind eyes... so much that I can scarcely imagine her in any quarrels, to begin with." With the many encounters he had with you, King Lugalbanda proves these statements true.

But with your resolve firm and your heart for the people so big, you chose to fight for what you know was right. "I know she will never side with oppression, but will always rebel against it," King Lugalbanda added. "She will rebel against pain, rebel against suffering, and ultimately triumph by rebelling against destiny!"

For a moment, the previous king's mind wandered back to one conversation he had with you. At first, he was one of the believers that you were the key to changing Gilgamesh.

"But maybe some people need not be changed. Maybe there should only be balance," you said. "Good: bad; right: wrong are two sides of the same coin. Thus, one cannot exist without the other."

"Besides, it isn't a woman's obligation to change a man nor it is the responsibility of one to change another," you added. "People will change when they want to change."

You look at the king with innocent eyes. "Sorry, your majesty," you chuckled. "Have I said too much?" You held a small smile on your lips. Anyone who saw that would definitely be warmed.

"I've always wanted to have a father," you continued, eyes looking into the distance. "Don't get me wrong, though. I have a father." You waved your hand. "It's just so happened that he was the previous Divine Child and no two Divine Child shall exist at the same time."

You went on to tell the former king of Al-Simr's myth. King Lugalbanda found your fate a little tragic. In situations where the next Divine Child is born before the current one is deceased, he will eventually die.

Although such a case only happened with you and your father, he found it even more saddening for it only happens when the next Divine Child is the primary kin of the former. Aside from that, there's literally no warning of such occurrence. No one knows which soul the gods will pick. That is one of the devastating fates of being the chosen one.

"Your majesty," you called as you saw King Lugalbanda deep in his thoughts. He hummed in response as he faced you. "Do you think... my father regretted me being born? I mean, had he known he would die that moment, would he have wished for me not to be born at all?"

King Lugalbanda saw melancholy wash over you. Having known you to be a strong girl, it pained him to see you like this. "No," he answered. Your eyes looked up at him with tears forming at the corners. "Why?" You asked.

"(Y/n), I am a father myself," he answered. "And I know that your father, wherever he is, is so proud of you. You grew up to be a wise and strong woman. I'm sure he'd be delighted to see you again when the time for you to join him arrives."