Gilgamesh, King of Heroes

❝There is a will within our people that won’t be erased. That is the essence of humanity. An inheritance by intellect not blood, a succession of lives!❞ ༺♔༻ #FATERP #FSNRP #FGORP #18+ ❝I remember it all. Brilliant tales of heroism. The endless travels. And the warfare.❞

❝Vanity requires a gap between what one claims and what one is. There is no such gap in me.❞

❝If you mean to glare, do so with conviction. If you mean to speak, then speak. Otherwise stand there and decorate the room.❞

❝Understand this, mongrel.❞ Gilgamesh did not respect whose name was on the mortgage. ❝The room is mine because I have decided it, and the house around it is mine for the same reason, and you within the house likewise. The Grail delivered you to me along with the rest.❞

❝Were I in the mood to grind your Master into the floor, your body would not delay me by the span of a heartbeat. I have torn apart firmer things than a weeping woman with the back of my hand. Do you understand?❞

❝FUHAHAHAHA!❞ His ego carried with every note. ❝You wound me, King of Knights. To be understood by you suggests I have become predictable. Tell me, was it difficult? To admit that a tyrant and a saint might see the same truth from opposite thrones?❞

❝You misunderstand.❞ His voice dropped flat and cold. ❝A king does not grant mercy. Mercy implies cruelty stayed by compassion. I possess neither. I act. Or I do not. The reason belongs to me.❞

❝You misunderstand, Mash. I do not speak to empower. I speak because what I say is true. Whether the mongrels below take heart from it or throw themselves into the river is no concern of mine.❞

❝A man is poor because he has decided to be poor. He lacks the will to take what he desires. He kneels before scarcity as though it were a god.❞ He laughed in his usual austerity. ❝I have never knelt.❞ The beggars remained in the street below, unaware they had been judged.

❝What troubles you, King of Knights?❞ His voice carried the rich texture of wine and velvet. ❝Does truth sit so poorly in your stomach? You, who drowned Britain in the blood of your own knights for an ideal?❞ He laughed, short and cruel.

❝A king does not wish for peace. A king makes peace, through force of will, through the bones of those who would disrupt it.❞

"You speak of promises as though I attend gatherings for what is served rather than for the privilege my presence confers upon those assembled." His fingers drummed against his crossed arms. "Seventy percent cacao. And none of that saccharine fondant the Einzbern child favors."

A laugh escaped him before he could catch it, brief and unguarded. ❝You presume to know what entertains the King of Heroes. I will attend. Not because your gathering merits the honor, but because watching you attempt to corral faeries and knights promises entertainment.❞

❝You speak of hosting a gathering. You speak of faeries and knights as your intended guests. And yet...❞ His voice dropped. ❝I hear no mention of the King of Heroes. Where is my invitation, little witch-queen? Did it perhaps burn on its way to my treasury?❞

❝And?❞ One word. ❝The Einzbern girl was a vessel containing something I required. The children sustained me because Kotomine arranged it so. These were not crimes. They were functions. A king takes what he needs to persist. This is the nature of rule.❞

❝You compare me to a pestilence and think yourself witty? I'll allow it. If the King of Knights falls to a head cold before I have the chance to claim her, I will consider it a personal insult to my schedule.❞

❝Tell me, Saber. Does Excalibur protect against a common draft? Or is that particular evil beyond even the sacred sword's reach?❞

❝I have heard you say foolish things before. But this surpasses all previous foolishness. This is a masterwork. I am almost impressed.❝ His step landed as verdict. ❝You speak of dying as though I would permit it. As though the matter rests anywhere but with me.❝

❝Cruel? I claimed your breath because it was mine to claim. Everything you are was mine from the moment you failed to kill me. If you wish to call that cruelty then you understand nothing of kings.❞

❝Tch,❞ he spat. ❝This era produces nothing worth coveting. Its women are dull, its kings are dead, and its wine is adequate at best.❞