"Hey you. Emiya Shirou."
Shirou immediately groaned, knowing that tone of voice and who would say that.
"What now Gilgamesh? I don't have time for your-" Shirou moaned as he turned around, expecting to see Gilgamesh in his golden glory and arrogance...
Only to realize that this was not the Gilgamesh he knew.
The Gilgamesh that was in front of him now was Caster Gilgamesh.
"Do you mind for a minute or so?"
Shirou was confused for a moment.
"Y-You are Gilgamesh...right?"
"Yeah."
"Archer version or Caster version?"
"Caster version, so don't even think of any ideas. I am nothing like my counterpart over there in which I'll admit, he's too arrogant."
"You have no idea..." Shirou muttered, remembering how arrogant Archer Gilgamesh can be. "So...what do you want with me?"
"I'm here to get answers from you."
"Answers? What answers?"
"The answers to why my counterpart hates you so much," Caster Gilgamesh said.
"Well...why don't we explain this in another location. Is that okay for you?"
"Hmph. If I get the answers, I don't care. Also, make this quick, I got some work to finish later."
Shirou then took Caster Gilgamesh to one of Chaldea's recreation rooms to have their little chat. As they got there, they sat down on a vacant sofa.
"So...what do you want to talk about?" Shirou asked.
"Well, first things first, what is with the problem between my counterpart and you, Emiya Shirou?"
"Well...it's a long story if you don't mind. You see...apparently my world's version of Gilgamesh had a thing for Arturia. What happened was that he wanted to make her his wife ever since the fourth holy grail war in my world, and that's been going on for quite a while now."
"Really now?" Caster Gilgamesh groaned with a face palm, knowing that he was going to get a headache from his archer counterpart's actions.
"Yeah, and here's when I come into the picture. During the fifth holy grail war, me and Arturia fell in love with each other and he did not take our relationship that well."
"Is that so? How well did he not take it?"
Shirou sighed. "He tried to kill me immediately on first contact."
Caster Gilgamesh looked at him in disbelief. "You're kidding me."
"I'm not. And not only that, but he even tried to kill me again during the time I was in Fuyuki's church."
"Jeez. My counterpart seems to not have any class then. I mean come on! Trying to kill somebody just because that person is dating your crush?! That's something even a mongrel wouldn't do!"
Shirou was shocked at what Caster Gilgamesh just said. "Is this really Gilgamesh?! The same Gilgamesh that tried to kill me twice when I was alive?! Okay, screw calling him another version of him, it's more like this is a different person all together!"
"Hey, speak up," Caster Gilgamesh said, snapping Shirou out of his trance.
"Sorry. It's just...that...well..."
"Let me guess. You never expected a version of Gilgamesh to act not like a complete arrogant person that just stands there every time whenever a fight happens correct?"
"Y-Yeah..."
Caster Gilgamesh. "I can't blame you. I get that reaction from everybody here in Chaldea, and I literally mean everyone. You won't believe the many times I had people confusing me with my archer counterpart, and it made life quite hectic for me."
"How so?"
This time, it was Caster Gilgamesh's turn to sigh. "Apparently, my archer counterpart made quite a lot of enemies and they would just keep giving me the harsh glares."
"Jeez, that sounds rough."
"Yeah. Not to mention the fact combined with the amount of work I need to do here...honestly, it's a pain in the butt..." Gilgamesh muttered.
For once, Shirou felt sorry for Gilgamesh...well, for his caster counterpart that is...
"By the way, you said you always had work to do right?"
"Yeah."
"Just how much though?"
Caster Gilgamesh sighed again. "Enough to create multiple stacks of papers high enough to make multiple towers..."
Shirou was surprised. "Jeez. It's a wonder that you haven't died overworking yourself to death."
Caster Gilgamesh was silent.
"Wait...you did die from overworking yourself to death?" Shirou asked.
"Yeah. You got a problem with that?" Caster Gilgamesh replied.
"Well no...it's just that...well...I've never heard of a heroic spirit die fade away from existence from overworking."
"You're telling me. I didn't know that was even possible until now. In fact, the way I found out that I died from overworking myself was simple! One time I just took a nap, and suddenly, I'm in the underworld looking at Ereshkigal! Can you imagine that?!"
"Honestly no."
"I know right!?"
As Shirou and Caster Gilgamesh continued their conversation, Shirou asked a question.
"Hey, can I ask you a question?"
"As long as you don't waste my time, then sure."
Shirou took a deep breath before saying, "Why is it that your archer counterpart keeps calling other servants mongrels despite being one himself?"
Gilgamesh sighed. "It's kind of a long story. You see, it's probably because of that useless goddess's, also known as Ishtar, fault that my archer counterpart is like this."
"What happened between your archer counterpart and Ishtar-san?"
"Well...Ishtar killed his best friend in front of him with the bull of heaven."
"You mean Enkidu?"
"Yeah, and ever since then, he's had a huge hatred for gods and goddesses because of what that useless goddess did to him. That's probably the reason why my archer counterpart seems to call other mongrels, due to his heritage that he's been trying to hide and his hatred of gods and goddesses"
"I see..."
"Yeah. Anyways, sorry if my archer counterpart still continues to be a pain in the ass."
"Nah. It's okay. I got used to it...somehow..."
"Well then, if you don't mind, I've got some work to get back to."
"Right."
And the two servants got off from the couch and proceeded to go their own ways.
"Wow. Can't believe that the guy I just talked to is the caster counterpart to the same arrogant Gilgamesh that has a giant grudge against me. More so, he wasn't arrogant at all! He was actually polite for once!"
"Huh. So that's the Emiya Shirou that my archer counterpart seems to have a huge grudge against. Although if anything, that grudge seems to be unjust and petty. Speaking of which, why does my archer counterpart keeps calling him a faker?"
Shirou couldn't believe his eyes at the sight in front of him.
Why? Because in front of him was apparently Gilgamesh.
In his younger form.
"Okay, seriously, this is getting a bit out of hand here. Why is there a kid version of Gilgamesh in front of me?! It's like everyone that I know from the fifth holy grail war happens to have an alternate version running around in Chaldea! Jeez, just what is the throne of heroes and Chaldea capable of?! This is crazy!"
As Shirou was in his thoughts, Kid Gilgamesh snapped him out of him.
"Hey, mister Shirou, are you okay?" Kid Gilgamesh asked.
"Huh? Oh, I'm fine..." Shirou muttered as he turned around to the other way of the hallway and walked away.
However, Kid Gilgamesh followed him, making Shirou sigh. "Any reason why are you following me?"
"Yeah. It's because you seem interesting."
Shirou sighed again. "You're Gilgamesh, aren't you?"
"Yes. How did you know?"
"Well...you're sort of giving off the aura your older versions are setting off from them."
Kid Gilgamesh sighed. "Well I can't blame you. I've been told from other servants that my counterparts seem to give off an aura of authority, although it appears that my archer counterpart seems to add a sense of arrogance to it."
"You have no idea..." Shirou muttered.
"I take that you met both of them?"
"Yup."
"And I suppose they must hate you then?"
"Well...the archer version does. The caster version, however, seems like a good fellow. Although I worry about his health though...even if he's a servant..."
"How so?"
Shirou sighed before saying, "Apparently he died from overworking himself once."
Kid Gilgamesh nearly stopped at Shirou's statement. "You're kidding me."
"I'm not joking. He told me that one day, he just took a nap, and the next thing he knew was that he woke up in the underworld with Ereshkigal looking at him directly."
"Wow. Never expected that to happen to my older caster self. Speaking of which, you and my older archer self don't get along with each other?"
Shirou sighed. "That's an understatement. We don't just get along with each other, we actually despise each other to the bitter end."
"Really? Why?"
Shirou sighed again. "It's a long story. You see, what happened was that during the fourth holy grail war, apparently your older archer self has a huge crush on Arturia. Later, in the fifth holy grail war, when me and Arturia fell in love together, your older archer self didn't take me and Arturia's relationship very well."
"Is that so? How bad was the first meeting between you two?"
"Well...he tried to kill me on sight."
An awkward silence appeared.
"Oh. Was it during in battle?"
"No, it was on a date night between me and Arturia."
Kid Gilgamesh mentally groaned as he heard that. "Really?! He tried to kill you on the sight of you and Arturia on a date night?!"
"Yeah..." Shirou said sheepishly.
"Jeez, he must did not take it well..." Kid Gilgamesh muttered.
"You have no idea. In fact, do you even want to know what he said before he tried to kill me?"
Kid Gilgamesh stayed quiet, waiting for Shirou's answer."
He said, "Don't take other people's possessions without permission, boy."
This time, Kid Gilgamesh facepalmed himself over the arrogant declaration his future archer self has done. "Jeez, that sounds too arrogant, even by my standards of arrogance," he groaned.
"You aren't wrong about that. I mean after all; he did just call Arturia a possession that was his."
"Wow."
"Yeah. And even to this day, that moment still angers me..." Shirou muttered as he clenched his fist very hard.
Kid Gilgamesh notices Shirou's fist clenching and said, "I can clearly see that..."
"Yeah." Shirou then relaxes his hand. "Anyways, after he said that, he then tried to kill me. In fact, he even tried to kill me with EA."
"Really? If that's the case, then how come are you still alive? I mean, no offense, but no one hasn't survived EA."
"Well...let's just say...I had something that even I didn't know I had up until that moment."
"Is that so?"
"Yeah. However, that wasn't the only time he tried to kill me. Later, he tried to kill me in a church...after I was recovering from a stab wound from a certain spear..."
(Meanwhile in Chaldea...)
Cu sneezed. "Jeez. Who's talking about me?"
(Back to Shirou and Kid Gilgamesh...)
"Jeez. That sounds hard for you..."
"Yeah. It was when that after the fifth holy grail was over that I was glad that I would never see that guy ever again...well until now that is."
"Yeah. Anyway, sorry for my archer counterpart being a pain in the ass on you," Kid Gilgamesh apologized. "Honestly, I don't know what made him like this...and honestly, I hope I don't either..."
"Yeah. And you want to know the worst part about this?"
Kid Gilgamesh listened to what Shirou was about to say.
"He's still going on with that failed proposal of his to Arturia."
Kid Gilgamesh sighed again. "And let me guess, he wants to make Arturia his bride, but Arturia keeps rejecting it. Correct?"
"Yup."
"Jeez. Even I know when to give up in some situations...he must be stubborn as a mule if he's still going with that..."
"You have no idea...anyways, you seem to act differently from your counterparts."
"Yeah. I get that a lot. You might even say that I'm the past version of themselves."
"So...you're carefree then?"
"Eh, you could say that. Not to the extent of my archer counterpart though. Also, unlike him, I don't have any desire to take anything or anyone I see on sight as a possession."
Shirou was surprised at what Kid Gilgamesh just said. "You don't?"
"Nope."
"Wow. You really are different from your archer counterpart. You act more like your caster counterpart...well, without the overworking tendencies off course."
Kid Gilgamesh smiled at him. "I guess I'll take that a complement then. By the way, there's something that's bothering my mind."
"What is it?" Shirou asked.
"Why does my archer counterpart keeps calling you faker?"
Shirou sighed. "Not this question again..."